Hannibal City Council putting infrastructure sales tax revenue to work

Hannibal is one step closer to the replacement of a storm sewer that collapsed several years ago under Union Street.

On Tuesday, the city council approved a bid of $705,634 for the replacement of 175 feet of stone archway stormwater conveyance with T&B Trucking and Excavating. The bid was about $45,000 under engineer estimates. The majority of the funding for the project, $616,350, will come from a federal Community Development Block Grant. The city will cover the rest with funds from the recently passed infrastructure sales tax.

The plan still needs final approval from the federal government.

Council members also approved a couple of purchase requests from Director of Central Services Andy Dorian. The first request was for the purchase of two pickup trucks at a cost of about $37,000 each. The trucks will be used by Parks Department Administration. Dorian noted the city has been trying to purchase a new truck for some time but just like anyone else, the national shortage of new vehicles has caused delays. He is hopeful the two trucks he is ordering will still be available. 

The second purchase approved by council was for a new dredge for the Marina. The Dorian said owning a dredge will save the city money over the annual rental. He also pointed out that the city will take possession of the new – Mud Cat MC 115D Dredge within 30 days. Apparently dredges are not in as high demand as pickup trucks.

The city received one bid from Kansas City based Ellicott Dredge Technologies totaling $296,742. 

Council also approved the addition of three auxiliary police officers to the Hannibal Police Department. The use of the auxiliary officers will help relieve some of the overtime being performed by full time officers. The department is currently five officers short of a full force. Auxiliary officers must be certified by the state.