Council OKs $15,365 engineering amendment for Market Street sidewalks after public plea to fix downtown trip hazards

The council on June 2 adopted Resolution 2609-26 to approve Amendment 1 to the engineering services agreement with Klinger and Associates for the Market Street sidewalk project, adding $15,364.92 to cover additional testing caused by smaller pours and more frequent MoDOT-required testing.

Senior manager Andy Dorian said the change arose because the project’s pours were broken into smaller sections to accommodate businesses, churches and a school; the extra pours required additional engineering testing and on-site engineering presence. He told the council the project was mostly grant-funded and the amendment will be paid from city funds; staff said the project came in under budget overall.

During public comment earlier in the meeting, resident Sarah North said a child fell and scraped a shin on a raised sidewalk panel in the 300 block of North Main and urged the city to inspect and repair downtown sidewalk panels near trees. "That kid had fallen at a place on the bottom of the 300 block of North Main," North said, and she asked the council to “take the time sometime in the near future to walk up and down Main and look at the relationship between the sidewalk panels, particularly the sidewalk panels near the trees." Staff said the street department and building inspector will develop a plan to grind and level panels.

Council approved Resolution 2609-26 by roll call and directed staff to continue project oversight and neighborhood outreach as needed.