The Centralia City Council passed resolutions for several projects at its regular meeting on Monday. Sidewalk improvements to portions of Airport Road and Country Club Road were approved from Jordan Elementary School to Edgebrook Lane. Milano and Grunloh Engineers, LLC will perform the engineering services. The total cost of construction is expected to be roughly $600,000 with $250,000 of the cost covered by a federal Safe Routes to School grant. Construction is expected to be completed in fall 2026.
Milano and Grunloh Engineers were also approved to perform design engineering and construction engineering for roadway improvements to portions of Orchard Drive East. The total cost of engineering for that project will be $65,000, paid for with motor fuel tax funds.
The council also hired Milano and Grunloh to perform grant administration of federal grants for the new water treatment plant and raw water line. A $1,000,000 grant from congressman Mike Bost for the water treatment plant and a $500,000 grant from Senator Dick Durbin for the raw water line will be administered by the company at a cost of $5,000 per grant. The engineers will create work plans to show how each grant will be utilized.
Milano and Grunloh were also approved to handle an application for a $50,000 grant to be put toward a lead service line inventory. This grant can be received multiple times, and the city will be able to apply again once the grant funds are used up.
A motion for a new water sales agreement with Junction City was tabled as Centralia is waiting to receive some legal information before moving forward.
In public participation, Mayor Bryan Kuder issued a BPW Equal Pay Day proclamation and recognized members of BPW present to bring attention to the gender wage gap. A service award was given to Public Works Director Jeff P. Schwartz for 15 years of service.
