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 Members of the Wapakoneta Middle School Student Council pose for photo outside the classroom earlier this year. To date, the group has raised nearly $2,300 in which they have donated to various local and area organizations throughout the 2009-2010 school year. Photo provided By KRISTA HAYES
Staff Writer
With the end of the school year nearing, Wapakoneta Middle School Student Council members are hoping to end their term on a positive note.
During the school year, the school government raised nearly $2,300 for various local and area organizations.
“Each year, we try and raise as much money as we can for various clubs and organizations that we vote on and decide to help support at the beginning of the school year,” Wapakoneta Middle School Student Council President Neal Maxson said.
Elected a Student Council representative of his homeroom, Maxson, a seventh-grade student, said this is his second year serving on the council. This year as president, his main responsibility is to set forth an agenda and preside over the group’s monthly meetings which are held the first and third Thursday of each month.
“I joined the Student Council because I was looking for a new activity to do and thought it’d be challenging experience,” Maxson said. “Politics have always been one of the things to stick out in my head and when I grow up, I want to be a lawyer.
“Overall, as president I think I have done a pretty good job,” he said. “Being president is a lot harder than what I thought it would be since I have to make the agendas, run the meetings, and keep the advisers in the loop. I have the whole weight of the council on my shoulders, and at times it can get frustrating, but I would recommend it to all the kids coming to the middle school next year because it’s a fun activity to be involved in.”
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Friday, 29 May 2009 |
By WILLIAM LANEY
Managing Editor
Harrison Street Bridge in Wapakoneta likely will be closed starting Monday, a county administrator says.
Auglaize County Engineer Doug Reinhart said crews from Brumbaugh Construction, of Arcanum, are set to start work Monday or early next week on the $1.98 million bridge and street reconstruction project.
“As far as I know it is to start next week and I would anticipate next week it will be closed,” Reinhart said. “The con-
tractor has moved some of his equipment onto the county garage grounds already, and as far as we know — unless something happens in the next day or so that would delay him on another project — the street and bridge would be closed as early as Monday of next week.”
Signs posted at the bridge indicate the bridge being closed starting June 1. The sign says the project should be completed by Nov. 11, days prior to when the asphalt plants close for the season.
The contractor is subject to penalties if the project is not completed by the deadline.
Detours around the site are expected to flow in two directions.
“I think you are going to see a lot of traffic using Auglaize and Silver streets,” Reinhart said. “On the east end, we will have a sign at Seltzer Street saying the road is open to the city Public Works Department building, and we intend to put in advance warning signs at Water Street.”
The county engineer says this should give motorists a chance to use Silver Street or Redskin Trail to avoid the construction zone.
“The tough part about it is, and Bridge Engineer Dan Bennett has done some traffic counts, there are close to 5,000 vehicles per day that use that bridge which is probably more than a lot of people would guess,” Reinhart said. “These vehicles will have to use an alternate route — this bridge and street work will put some stress on traffic patterns near the construction zone.”
Wapakoneta Engineering Supervisor Mary Ruck said she is waiting to receive a detour route from the contractor, but people will likely use Auglaize and Silver streets.
The bridge and street reconstruction project is a joint project between the city of Wapa-koneta and the county. The county is coordinating and overseeing the construction of the bridge, while the city is responsible for the reconstruction of a section of Harrison Street from county work at the bridge to Defiance Street.
The twin-steel truss bridge is to be widened to 46 1/2 feet from 28 feet to accommodate a wider street and sidewalks on both sides of the bridge. It also is to be raised to clear the worst flood in a 100-year span based on past occurrences.
During the past year, city Public Works Department and Electric Department crews have been working to reroute water, sewer and sanitary sewer lines as well as electric lines because of the bridge replacement project.
Private utility companies also have moved natural gas, telephone and cable television lines during the past few months.
The $1.98 million bridge project is being funded with help from a state grant federal highway gasoline tax funding. The city portion of the street reconstruction is being paid through a state Issue 1 grant, with property owners paying for curbs, gutters and sidewalks.
Reinhart said crews cannot work in the water until July 1 because of Ohio Environmental Protection Agency restrictions due to the spawning of fish, so street work is to proceed first.
Due to work in the Auglaize River, Safety-Service Director Rex Katterheinrich and Mayor Rodney Metz have lowered the dam to lower the river.
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Last Updated ( Monday, 01 June 2009 )
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