City officials voted to pay the contractor in the water and wastewater improvement project after work was done to prepare First Avenue for winter.

The city will pay H&W Contracting $424,981 for work approved so far.

Earlier this month, Clark Engineering and the city told the contractor to stop working on the project and prepare the street for winter. A letter to H&W detailed all of the city’s expectations on how the job should be left until work can continue next spring.

“The engineers assured me in the meeting with contractors and everyone else that everything has been done,” said Don Whitman, city administrator. H&W will be responsible for upkeep of the street during the winter, and the city will provide snow removal.

The list of expectations included hooking all homes on First Avenue to the main sewer. In addition, H&W had to install three inches of gravel at the crown of the street, compact it and maintain it for winter. In the spring, the gravel layer will need to be torn out for asphalt work to be completed. The company also had to sweep sidewalks, remove debris, reinstall signs and generally clean up before shutting down.

“They’ve buttoned everything up,” Whitman said.

The $4.05 million project includes replacement of the main water and sewer line on First Avenue from Veterans Street to Lindsay Street, along with storm drains, new curb and gutter and reconnecting water and sewer services for businesses and homes. In addition, the road will be repaved.

Another request for pay for additional work completed is expected Jan. 15.

In other business,

• The planning and zoning commission approved a request from David Ross to build a home in a floodplain on Ross Avenue, west of Crescent Street, south side of the road. He hired an engineer to make sure the plan was acceptable and expects to start work in the spring, Whitman said. “He did everything that he needed to do, and he’s worked on it quite a long time.”
• Police Chief Zach Weber said the department had 400 more calls this year than last, but case reports and arrests were roughly unchanged. The department has hired an additional officer, Rob Neuenfeldt who is acting chief for the Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe police department, to replace Lisa Pelton who will be the school resource officer at Flandreau public school beginning Jan. 3.