Huntington news

By GARY ARRINGTON Sports writer

The common theme of discussion at the April Huntington city council meeting was improvements to the infrastructure of the city. The big project that is imminent in the city is the reconstruction of 300 East between 300 North and 400 North and of 400 North between 400 West and 500 West. Also being rebuilt this year is 550 West from 400 North to 500 North. The blocks will have the roads rebuilt, curb and gutter installed and sidewalks installed. The city received a CIB grant to cover half the cost of these projects.
The city is having power poles in the city in moved in conjunction with these projects plus the city council voted to install street lighting on 550 West.
The nearly year old project of putting sidewalks around town is nearly at an end as the contractor doing the work is on the last couple of blocks that were part of the bid.
Work on the city pavilion located in the city park has started. The old pavilion came crashing down due to snow build up this past winter. When finished, the new structure should be an improvement over the old building. The city council discussed putting metal roofing on the smaller pavilion and the building used for cooking breakfast.
The zoning administrator reported that an old house located on 200 North and 200 East has been removed and the lot cleaned up. It was also reported that an old singlewide mobile home located on 200 East has also been taken down. The administrator also reported that he is sending out several more letters to property owners in Huntington to clean up their property that have numerous old cars, old trailers, old appliances, weeds to the excess and other items that do not meet city ordinances.
The city discussed travel reimbursement and per diem amounts for city employees, councilmen and the mayor when they are away on city business. The city currently uses the IRS guidelines for mileage and travelers have their choice of being paid a per diem or of being reimbursed for expenses. No changes were made to the policy.
The county food bank approached the city about using the old city hall building while their new building is being constructed. Approval by the city council was given for such a use.