By Jordan Puckett
Sun staff

The Batavia Village Council has voted to move forward with street construction plans for Main Street, as well as Second and Fourth streets. The vote came during the council’s regular meeting Monday, May 6. Many of the aspects of the plan are subject to change.

Don Bezold of Burgess & Niple presented the updated design plans, now at approximately 60 percent completion. He began with a proposal for creating a stage area in front of the courthouse. This would be done by moving the steps to the side and filling in the present steps so that there would be a level platform.

Council member John Waite asked if the stage would be handicap accessible. Bezold replied that he didn’t think so. But, he said it would only be there for special purposes, and that he would look into it.

The courthouse stage area is not part of the entire project and has not been included in the cost estimate.

For the updated crosswalks, Bezold suggested stamped asphalt. This method would allow many different pattern and color options and would be completed faster than the traditional, more expensive concrete. He also suggested this for the projected plaza area around the courthouse.

Several different streetlight fixtures were displayed at the meeting. No particular designs were decided upon, but several options were discussed. LED style lights seemed to be the most popular. Bezold explained that while they were about $400 more per light, they would last longer, cutting power and maintenance costs.

Council member Bob Handra supported this, saying that if the LED lights were run about eight hours every night, they would last around 15 years. He also said the energy cost would be about one fifth that of traditional lights. Other options include metal arms extending from the sides to hold holiday decorations, as well as outlets on the tops.

Bezold finished his presentation with an updated cost estimate of $4.6 million.

“We’ll have to be real careful as we progress in the design not to add anything more and try to trim some things down,” he said. He added that some things would be listed as bid alternates and could be added into the final plan later on.

Handra raised a question about having an island at the corner of 5th Street and Main Street. He said an island there would only be wasted money, claiming that it would get torn up by turning trucks and buses. Other council members agreed that this would be an issue. Bezold said he would look into more options for that intersection.

Design plans should be almost 100 percent complete by the next council meeting at 7 p.m. June 3.

Construction will begin in the middle of August and should be complete by June 2014.