JAMESTOWN, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – The City of Jamestown will be moving forward with the clearing of debris from the James River this fall after a bid was accepted for the project.

Ben Aaseth with Interstate Engineering reported that the bidding process was very competitive with Scherbenske Inc. providing the lowest bid at $233,910 to do the work. The work will clear tree branches and other debris in the James River from the dam to the railroad bridge near the Anne Carlsen Center. Aaseth says they only had enough funding to do that section, which was more critical than other areas of the river.

Daryl Hornbuckle with Interstate Engineering explained the reasoning a little further.

Aaseth says as soon as the contract is out, Scherbenske looks to start clearing August 21st as the river lowers. The council unanimously approved the bid.

The Public Works Committee later discussed accepting the Urban Grant Program award for the proposed road diet. Jim Boyd addressed the committee and expressed his strong support for the project.

Arts Center Executive Director Larry Kopp says as the Downtown Arts Market continues to thrive, he believes from what he’s seen that the road diet would be beneficial in a number of ways.

Connie Ova spoke as a member of the community and county to the committee and gave the committee more information regarding the grant and how competitive it was.

Of the approved grants, Jamestown received the most dollars with $2.4 million to be used on the road diet. Ova says if the grant is denied by the city, the money will be redistributed. Ova says Jamestown continues to compete for people to move to, work in and stay in Jamestown.

Councilmember David Steele brought up concerns with the bumpouts what would also be part of the project.

Mayor Dwaine Heinrich says he won’t support the project unless there is a way they can test the road diet to see how it is received in Jamestown.

The council will have a year to plan and prepare the project before it’s required to be in place by 2020. The grant was unanimously approved.