Today's Feature

Oak Street Bridge Developments.

Public Works Director Chad Wampler informed the Public Works Committee this week of the status of the Oak Street Bridge renovation project. Funding for the project was approved by Council in October of 2006 in an ordinance that accepted funding from the Missouri Department of Transportation in the amount of $177,200 for the complete replacement of the bridge.

Council members, when discussing the project, had indicated a wish to keep the design of the bridge similar to its current form, preserving the sharp peak between the incline and decline that has resulted in the bridge being called the "whee bridge."

Shortly after the funding was accepted, however, the railroad company which owns the railway under the bridge set forth specifications for the bridge clearance that would call for alterations to the design. The current clearance under the bridge is 19.5 feet. The clearance that would be required by the railroad if the bridge is modified is 23.5 feet.

Wampler told the committee that some preliminary engineering had been done to show how the bridge would look with the new rectangle clearance shape included. In the drawing, the incline and decline are both sharper than they are now, as the bridge ends near to intersections on both sides and cannot be extended beyond the intersections. The peak, instead of being sharp, is flattened out to fit around the rectangle clearance on the underside. With this change, Wampler said that the "whee" factor of the bridge would be ultimately removed.

Wampler did not ask the committee to take any action during the meeting, but said he was providing an update on the project status. Wampler noted that a majority of the engineering funding for the project had been expended, and that further engineering costs would likely result in the City contributing funds to the project. Similarly, as the project size has increased, Wampler said that the construction costs might surpass the approved funding, in which case the City would be responsible for additional costs.

City Administrator Tom Short said that MoDOT might be willing to expand the available funding since the scope of the project has grown larger. The item will be further discussed by the committee at a later date.

I don’t know how long shoe laces are supposed ta last. Ya don’t get a manual settin’ out a maintenance schedule for shoes like ya do an automobile. I pretty much replace ‘em when they break. I learned how to adjust for a broken lace as a kid. The lack of a full lace seldom leaves ya sittin’ on the side of the road waitin’ for the tow truck.

I took a small step toward organizin’ my affairs the other day, replaced a set of laces ‘fore they broke. And I did replace the set, not just the typical one lace that was ready for a blow out. I’m still debating whether to keep the one "good" lace for back up. If I keep the shoes longer than a second set of laces, however, I doubt I’ll be concerned about the appearance of a short string.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

artCentral

by Sally Armstrong, Director of artCentral

The weather outside could not be much hotter, and our artCamp kids inside are enjoying a second week of camp in cool air-conditioning! These hearty young souls ARE eating their lunches outside on the front porch however, and the games of tag from last week’s group have ended and have turned to porch swinging and word games in the shade. I continue to welcome new ones to our classes, including two new teachers this week, Andrea Land, formerly of Joplin, currently living in San Francisco and involved in art endeavors there, and Sean Fitzgibbon, formerly of Webb City, who is teaching classes in perspective drawing and sequential art, also known as comics drawing. We are very fortunate to have on our art staff this young man who teaches art at the University of Arkansas. This has been a very popular choice this year, and Sean’s classes have been very quiet, so that tells me they are busy enjoying the drawing assignments that he has them doing. We are a great place for kids to be on a very hot day! Thanks to all of you who have brought your children and made this year’s artCamp such a success. We want to publicly thank again the folks associated with the Helen Boylan Foundation for the grant made to us again this year, to the Anna Isles Foundation for the assistance with tuitions for some of our deserving students, and our other anonymous benefactor who is also assisting with student scholarship tuitions. She knows who she is! It is with the help of these that we can continue to make the camp possible, to pay our artist-teachers a reasonable wage for their time and preparation, and to allow our students the lengthy classes that are so important for art study. See everyone again next year!