A look back at the top five stories of 2013

BY GARY GOULD

810-452-2650

A look down Main Street in Davison following the completion of the makeover project. File photo It has been a busy and eventful year in the Davison area, so here are just some of the news events we thought were important to readers of The Davison Index.

Main Street resur facing

Work began July 8 on what Davison City Manager Michael Hart called the Main Street Makeover project. At a total cost of $1.248 million (funded primarily through federal grant money) it included replacement of the old water main, widening about a half-mile stretch of the street between Clark and Flint streets, and lighting and landscaping improvements.

About half of the funding, more than $616,000, is federal transportation grant money and the remainder of projects price tag including about $134,000 in overruns came from the citys capital improvement fund.

Some overruns arose due to unexpected issues which cropped up during underground work to install a new water main on Main Street.

Bob and Geraldine Callis at the unveiling of plans for Lake Callis at the new 40-acres being added to the Jack Abernathy Regional Park. File photos The first issue was a 30-plus year old water main which broke during construction at Main and Rising streets. The broken main flooded and damaged an old sewer line which collapsed and resulted in a small sinkhole.

That was $35,000 just to fix, said Chris Brinks of Wade Trim on Oct. 14. Another $7,000 for the emergency repair to the main.

Overall, that emergency repair cost the city about $63,000 total when it was all completed. Other unexpected expenses arose with additional work needed to curbs and gutters, iron tree grates, the replacement of aging catch basins and removal of an underground gas tank discovered in front of Chucks Barbershop and Larsons Ace Hardware.

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A look back at the top five stories of 2013