City council discusses road restrictions

By Chad Koenen

Publisher

In a meeting lasting less-than 15 minutes, the Henning City Council approved a resolution in advance of this year’s Inman Street project.

During a special meeting on Wednesday night, the Henning City Council approved a resolution that became necessary to ensure the city’s utility funds would show a positive balance at the end of the year. The resolution was necessary in order to receive state funding as the city’s water and sewer fund showed a negative balance in recent years. 

“The timing on this was kind of critical of the public facilities authority that will be giving us our grant for the Inman project,” said Utility Supervisor Ted Strand. “It’s a formality, but we need to have this in place to get the money.”

Strand said the city will need to take steps at the end of the year, should the utility funds show a negative balance, and transfer the necessary funds to make them positive. He said the city will also need to continue following through with its water and sewer rate plan that will continue to raise rates in future years. 

In addition to the resolution regarding this summer’s road project, the city council spent a few minutes last week discussing road restrictions in the city limits. 

Henning Mayor Robert Johnson said he received a concern from an individual about trucks damaging the road in the industrial park area. He said the road from Highway 108 to Railway is a 10-ton road, but from Railway to Marshal Ave. is only a 5-ton road to the gravel township road. 

Strand said the classification of the road has to do with how much Class 5 is packed under the road, as well as the amount of bituminous on the road. He said engineers suggested the city conduct soil sampling to see how much Class 5 and bituminous is underneath roads that the city may want to change the classification for to investigate the cost and steps to making such a change. 

The city council will discuss road classifications and what steps to take for the roads in question at a later date.