By Sam Parsons

The Oskaloosa City Council held a regular meeting last night and rejected plans to reconstruct 8th Avenue West. The dead-end residential street was slated to have its pavement replaced, and a sidewalk was proposed to be added on each side of the street; however, residents and council members shared the concern that the street was too narrow for large vehicles for sidewalks to be added. The proposal was rejected on a 6-1 vote.

Work was initially planned to begin on August 4. Now, the city will need to redesign the project and re-bid it, which Deputy Director of Public Works Sean Murphy said would likely delay the project until the next calendar year.

The council later approved a resolution accepting public improvements completed as part of the Musco Downtown Improvements Project. Musco unveiled their multimillion dollar Oskaloosa facility expansion and improvements project last week during a ribbon cutting ceremony, and part of the project included improvements to 2nd Avenue West, South A Street, and South B Street. That resolution was approved by the council in a 6-0 vote.

The next regular meeting for the Oskaloosa City Council is scheduled for July 21.