A project to extend of Falcon Street into the Teal Lake Village subdivision was approved Monday by the Mexico City Council.

The extension is included in the 2019-20 budget, but council members in November learned that gas lines owned by Ameren would have to be lowered for the project. Council member Chris Williams raised concerns in November over the $31,524 addition to the $55,000 project.

The council approved the gas-line project in January, again over objections from Williams over the additional project cost. He was not present at Monday’s vote on the street extension project.

The city received 10 bids, with all but one exceeding the $55,000 budget. S&A Equipment of Fulton submitted the low bid of $48,216.

“S&A has not done work with the city in recent memory, so we did reach out to several clients of theirs,” City Engineer Drew Williford said. “We have heard nothing bad.”

The project includes the street extension from Fairgrounds Street to Amelia Drive in the subdivision and Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant sidewalks on the north side of Falcon Street.

The additional expense of lowering the Ameren gas lines is being paid out of other project budgets so the city does not exceed its capital improvement sales tax budget, Williford said.

Council member Chris Miller wanted to know if the city received a payment from the Teal Lake Village developers to help cover costs of the sidewalk construction within their right-of-ways.

“I’m estimating that to not exceed $3,000. What the agreement with the developers is they’ll pay the $3,000,” Williford said.

In other business:

• The council approved a resolution authorizing City Manager Bruce Slagle to sign a hangar lease at Mexico Memorial Airport with Bob Boyes. The lease term is one year, automatically renewable at end of first year, with rent at $80 per month.
• Council approved a bid of $97,470 from Missouri Petroleum of St. Louis to conduct the 2020 chip/seal project to maintain city streets, a bid of $29,792 from Parking Lot Maintenance of Lake St. Louis for the 2020 crack and joint seal project and a $100,408 bid from Flowmaster Construction of Mexico for the 2020 concrete project. The 2019-20 budget allowed up to $250,000 for these maintenance projects. The chip/seal project is expected to extend street life by seven to 10 years within the region of East Summit Street, North Jefferson Street, East Love Street and Agricultural Street. The crack and joint sealing project will take place on concrete and asphalt streets in the Birdland area off Fairgrounds Street. Concrete work will include street patching, ADA upgrades to curb ramps along North Jefferson Street and culvert replacement at Virginia Court.