Work on reconstructing Hickory Lick Road is tentatively set to start late this summer in an effort to lessen the impact for visitors to the Warrenton Athletic Complex.A temporary road will be constructed connecting Donna Marie Drive and Golden Vicary so that motorists can still reach homes in the area and the complex, city officials said.A more definitive time line will be known in the upcoming months after MoDOT approves the contract for the project. Once a schedule is set, property owners in the area will be notified.Hickory Lick Road is located on the north side of Warrenton, off Highway 47.“We’re trying to avoid the ball league season,” said Terri Thorn, director of operations/finance officer.Aldermen awarded the project bid to T.S. Banze Construction for $973,588.53, the lowest of seven received, at their Feb. 16 meeting. The city had budgeted $1.1 million for the project.“We have worked with Banze quite a bit, found them to be a very good company to work with,” said Kurt Daniels, representing Cochran Engineering. “They are responsive to what we need.”Other bidders were Cannon General Contractors ($1,009,192.17), Karrenbrock Construction ($1,122,391.43), Lamke Trenching and Excavating ($1,232,336.05), J.M. Marschuetz Construction ($1,354,353.25) and Lehman Construction ($1,632,323.75).The project consists of removing the existing road and replacing it with an approximate 24-foot-wide, 8-inch thick concrete street. The section of the road that will be upgraded is from Highway 47 to just east of Jaspering Lane.More than half of the project cost will be offset by grant funds totaling $625,036.While all five aldermen voted in favor of awarding the contract, some discussion was held on whether or not the city should proceed with including an alternate that raised the bid by $37,540. The alternate was for two three-line electrical message boards that the city will keep once the project is complete.Some aldermen questioned the city spending the additional money.However, city staff said the message boards could be used for a variety of ways in the future, whether it be for boil orders, roadwork or special events.“The only option we currently have is to have banners made,” Thorn said. “This will give us an immediate opportunity if there is an emergency that we have never had before. From what I remember, when we looked at straight purchase, they (message boards) were about $27,000 apiece. That was best price we could get and it was always cost prohibitive. I do believe there is a lot of ability to use these.”In response, Ward 1 Alderman Karen Casserly said, “I don’t disagree with the benefit of having them, I don’t feel it’s the right thing to combine it with this project because we can.”This is the second time the city has awarded a contract for the project. Last year the winning bid was approved for slightly over $1 million. But changes to the original project design had to be made once the city could not obtain easements for the original location of the temporary road. Since grant funds are being used, that required the city to go out for bids again.Warrenton