Hampshire issues bond money for major project

Hampshire will move forward with a major reconstruction project after trustees approved the issuance of a $1.4 million bond. The funds are the remainder of a $3 million bond the village sold in 2006 to, in part, match a $1.8 million federal grant.

The latest bond will fund a road and infrastructure improvement project encompassing Keyes Avenue, Mill Street and Industrial Drive. Work will include water and sewer repairs, curbs and sidewalks, roadway reconstruction and a parking lot along Keyes Avenue.

"This has been on the radar for the past five years," Village Administrator Eric Palm said of the work known collectively as the Keyes Avenue project. "It is desperately needed. It is the central part of town, in the industrial center."

The project, which is the second phase of an estimated $3.5 million undertaking, is expected to cost about $1.75 million. But the village is working to lower those costs that include engineering, right of way acquisition and construction, Palm said.

"We estimate high for project costs so there could be some cost-savings built in," Palm said. "Also, we have estimated $150,000 to $250,000 for right of way, but the actual costs may be much lower depending on the conversations we have with landowners."

Initial engineering for the project is nearing completion and the village expects to acquire the final parcels of land by the end of the summer. Work could begin in spring 2010.

In 2006, the village drew $1.6 million from the bond to improve State Street, Allen Road and Jefferson Avenue. Improvements for phase one, which were completed two years ago, included the construction of turn lanes, curbs and gutters and road widening, Village President Jeff Magnussen said.