LEWISBURG (WVDN) – A special meeting was held on Tuesday, Sept. 27, to consider the bond issue choice by the Lewisburg City Council. John Stump, bond counsel, was present and prepared to answer any questions regarding the sale arrangement through Truist for bonds to fund and furnish a Public Works Building of the Building Commission.
The details were known by the council, and they voted to approve the arrangement.
The agreement between the city and the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources (DNR) regarding water pipe construction on and near the Greenbrier River Trail was also discussed; some issues are now finalized following the questions and answers regarding the Greenbrier River Trail at the regular council meeting last week.
City manager Misty Hill stated, “This has been a long time coming, and we have reached an agreement with DNR and the attorney general has signed it.”
Attorney General Patrick Morrissey is representing the DNR in city-DNR negotiations regarding water line construction under the trail and the new parking lot to be built at Harper Road to accommodate hikers north of the closed portion of the River Trail.
The temporary parking lot to be constructed is on Harper Road on city-owned property, Hill said, but trees on DNR-owned property will need to be removed.
The parking lot will provide easier access to the Greenbrier River Trail while construction closes a portion of the trail near the Caldwell trailhead.
Also, after Nov. 15, tree removal on DNR property to extend the parking lot can be done, in accordance with the state protection of bats before they go into hibernation.
Hill also stated, “last Tuesday we said we would maintain the settlement of the trail over the installed water lines.”
Joining the meeting via a Zoom connection, water project engineer Greg Belcher stated the following: no trail closure date has been selected yet; and due to the length of time of the closure of the trail that the state and citizens wanted, there will be an additional cost of $149,310.
Belcher said the additional cost is because the contractor will have to have two crews, both working 50 hours a week, to meet the deadline. That is 10 hours per week of overtime for all in those crews.
Also, Belcher said, an engineering change to two locations on the trail where the intake line crosses an existing culvert for wet weather springs to feed into the Greenbrier River, will shorten the project timeline.
“The act of not removing the culverts to install the new intake line, which basically is at the same depth, will hasten the completion of the project,” he said.
The city signed a lease agreement with the DNR that covers the portion of the trail under which the water pipes will be laid and the parking area. The lease has no cost attached to it, but it does provide for a shorter construction time period and the city’s responsibility for long-term trail remediation once the water project is complete.
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