MONROE - It's being dubbed the Clean/Bright/Safe project. The downtown parking ramp will get a sprucing up this fall and again next spring.
Without an official vote on the matter, members of the City of Monroe Common Council reached a consensus Tuesday, Oct. 15, to make the parking ramp a little more inviting to use, at least through September 2014, when Cheese Days celebrates its 100th anniversary.
Council members directed City Administrator Phil Rath to put together a plan to get the ramp power washed, better lighting, window replacements and some paint in its stairwells.
The project will begin by using the parking ramp's remaining 2013 budget of about $26,000, city employees and perhaps some volunteers. Some council members said even they would volunteer their labor. Snow removal costs must also come out of the remaining budget.
The renewed effort came after Main Street Monroe Economic Restructuring Chairman Craig Patchin offered MSM's proposed timeline on upkeep and replacement of the current parking ramp.
The Clean/Bright/Safe aspect of the timeline recommended the items taken up Tuesday by the council and adds concrete barricades; cameras; and more paint, inside and out, next spring.
Demolition of the ramp to make room for a new ramp is scheduled for February 2015, with completion of the new ramp construction in October 2015.
MSM's timeline for replacing the ramp came with some financial concepts to fund or support the new structure, which the council discussed briefly at its meeting Tuesday.
Without an official vote on the matter, members of the City of Monroe Common Council reached a consensus Tuesday, Oct. 15, to make the parking ramp a little more inviting to use, at least through September 2014, when Cheese Days celebrates its 100th anniversary.
Council members directed City Administrator Phil Rath to put together a plan to get the ramp power washed, better lighting, window replacements and some paint in its stairwells.
The project will begin by using the parking ramp's remaining 2013 budget of about $26,000, city employees and perhaps some volunteers. Some council members said even they would volunteer their labor. Snow removal costs must also come out of the remaining budget.
The renewed effort came after Main Street Monroe Economic Restructuring Chairman Craig Patchin offered MSM's proposed timeline on upkeep and replacement of the current parking ramp.
The Clean/Bright/Safe aspect of the timeline recommended the items taken up Tuesday by the council and adds concrete barricades; cameras; and more paint, inside and out, next spring.
Demolition of the ramp to make room for a new ramp is scheduled for February 2015, with completion of the new ramp construction in October 2015.
MSM's timeline for replacing the ramp came with some financial concepts to fund or support the new structure, which the council discussed briefly at its meeting Tuesday.