JACKSON BOARD HALTS WORK ON WEST MAIN

Work on the problem-plagued West Main Street improvement project was halted again Monday, this time by the Jackson Board of Aldermen.

The board voted 8-0 to put a stop to work on the project on the recommendation of City Attorney David Beeson.

A special meeting is scheduled Thursday between the city, the contractor, SIS of Creal Springs, Ill., and the contractor's bonding company to discuss the future of the West Main Street project.

Beeson made his recommendation after Acting City Engineer Rich Bowen told the board that the contractor on two occasions failed to stop paving on Thursday after a city inspector detected problems with the quality of the paving work. Bowen said because of the contractor's failure to stop work about 100 to 200 feet of pavement that was poured in the westbound lane in front of Lenco Inc. will be condemned because it does not meet city paving specifications.

The stop order means the contractor cannot begin work on cutting out about 1,200 feet of rejected pavement in the eastbound lane of West Main from Hubble Creek east to the Missouri Street intersection until at least Thursday or Friday. However, the board did allow the contractor to backfill with dirt the area around the new sidewalks and curbs as a safety measure.

Beeson warned the board if it allowed work on West Main to continue after the city engineer had twice ordered all paving stopped, it would endanger the city's position with the bonding company. He said it could cost the city a lot of money in the future if it did not take the action.

Besson described the troubled West Main paving project as "a vehicle out of control without anyone at the wheel as to where it should go." He was referring to the contractor's refusal to obey the instructions of the city engineer to stop additional paving work.

Despite the 100 to 200 feet of defective paving, Bowen said he hopes to be able to open the westbound lane of West Main to traffic today, which will allow traffic to at least move again on each side of the street and give some relief to businesses on West Main that have been seriously hurt financially by delays in completing the project.

On another item of business, the board set the 1992-93 tax rate at $1.05 per $100 assessed valuation. The amount is the same as this year's levy. Those who live in the older part of town will pay 13 cents less because they do not pay the 13 cent library tax.