Maria Widening Behind City’s Schedule

By Brandi Makuski

The City of Stevens Point is behind schedule on a proposed widening of Maria Drive.

The holdup stems from stalled negotiations between the city and owners of two property on the corner of Maria Drive and Second Street North- Mickey’s Restaurant, which has been vacant since closing last November- and Kent’s Service Center.

The Finance Committee in June approved spending up to $87,000- far below the asking price of $150,000- for Mickey’s, though neither party can comment on progress of the negotiations.

City leaders are also still negotiating with Kent’s- and owner Kent Worzella said he’s willing to work with the city for a fair compromise, he’s not happy the city will be taking about 10 feet of his property so city crews can widen the road.

City leaders have for months been negotiating in closed session with both parties, and City Attorney Andrew Beveridge said he can’t comment on the process of those talks.

But Council Members had concerns f rom the beginning of the proposal. Alderman Randy Stroik said he worried about any potential contamination on the property site, saying Council Members have been fooled before.

“At one point there was concern the mall (site) was contaminated, and then all of a sudden there’s a several hundred thousands dollars to remediate the mall,” Stroik said.

City Attorney Logan Beveridge said he doesn’t expect any surprises on the site, adding an environmental study on the property had already been conducted.

“It indicated there was only a small amount of asbestos surrounding one window, so when the building is demolished it would have to be disposed of properly,” Beveridge said. “There’s also a fuel oil tank there that would have to be land-filled property, but no other contamination has been found there.”

The Stevens Point Plan Commission in January unanimously approved steps to widen the intersection, which city leaders say needs to be better aligned for improved safety, especially given the high pedestrian traffic related to nearby Madison Elementary.

Mayor Andrew Halverson told the council in June the new roadway will be designed by the city and put out for bid to area contractors.

City leaders say there’s no timeline in effect for the project, but Beveridge did say it’s not likely the road will be widened in time for the 2014-15 school year as previously planned.  He said talks are “continuing” but declined to comment further.