Improvements pending at East Point Park

BAINBRIDGE -- As the deadline draws closer for the East Point Park repaving, the Bainbridge town council grew more impatient on Wednesday.

"We will be filing a case against him on June 1 if he has not gotten it completed," council president Chuck McElwee said.

The him, Steve Land of Land & Sons Paving, has been asked to redo his pavement of the one-third mile asphalt walking trail in East Point Park.

The path has numerous cracks, crevasses and holes that are unsightly and have potential to be hazardous.

Although the path was specified to be 2.5 inches thick, there are part less than one inch clerk-treasurer Jason Hartman said.

The council has been trying, mostly unsuccessfully, to get the project completed for months.

After town attorney Jim Ensley reported Land has been delayed again and likely won't begin for at least another two weeks, McElwee reiterated that it must be completed, not just started, by June 1.

There have also been reports of thorn bushes near the path, which the park board said could become an issue.

A sign for the park is in the town offices waiting to be installed when an appropriate location is found.

The town is hopeful that improved pavement, adding a sign and moving the recycling dumpster should help the park become more popular.

The recycling dumpster will be relocated after the salt storage facility is completed. Construction is expected to begin in mid-June.

The council also reopened discussions about making minor traffic violations in town civil infractions, asking Ensley to find more information for the next meeting.

Putnam County has already made this move.

"If we're doing this," town marshal Rodney Fenwick said, "I want to do it for the right reasons."

Notes:

- Fenwick reported he expects to have the new police cruiser within the next few weeks.

- Cleanup day, the first Saturday in May each year, was again a success. Bainbridge citizens filled five dumpsters, which matched last year's haul.

- Construction on the Vine/Locust Street storm sewer project will begin after the Washington Street project is completed

-The bugs in the water tower computer system have been worked out.