Melrose Select Board Approves Billboard, Awards Chip Seal Bid, Extends Charter Franchise

MELROSE — March 15, 2018 — Melrose Select Board approves billboard rebuild, chip seal contract, and Charter franchise extension at busy March meeting. The board voted unanimously Thursday to replace the city's wind-destroyed billboard using insurance proceeds from the League of Minnesota Cities, rejecting a welcome sign alternative; the out-of-pocket cost for the two-sided billboard with two skins will be $9,353. The board also awarded the 2018 chip seal street contract to low bidder Aztec Incorporated at $108,497.65 — well under the roughly $160,000 budget — and approved a temporary extension of the city's cable franchise with Charter Communications through December 31 while a full 15-year renewal is negotiated. Waste Management District Manager Dan Panky told the board that new 96-gallon yard waste carts will begin delivery the following Wednesday, replacing a three-person manual pickup crew. A school district community education representative thanked the city for 17 years of annual donations and said a 13 percent revenue cut would force fee increases on the 75 percent of summer rec participants who live in Melrose.