Update on Chelsea capital projects

It’s been a busy summer for the City of Chelsea.

According to Mayor Earl Niven, the city is pushing ahead with its capital improvements projects, and residents should see progress this month.

As of mid-August, Niven expected the city’s approved purchase 105 acres adjacent to Chelsea High School to be complete. With the intention to develop the area into facilities for youth recreation, he said the first order of business would be to construct baseball and softball fields, six tennis courts and a new road to the site.

“We’ve secured the funding, and hopefully by September the timber will be in the process of being cut,” he said. “Once the land is cleared, we’ll be ready to start the engineering process.”

In addition, Chelsea is moving ahead with the development of a new community and senior center on County Road 47 across from Liberty Baptist Church. Niven said a sign indicating this plot as the future home of the center could be up immediately after the city signed a contract to purchase on Aug. 15.

The resurfacing of King’s Ranch Drive will also occur this month, Niven said.

Finally, as children returned to schools, the city made its annual contribution of $15,000 to get teachers started on the new year. Niven said the city would donate to each school for startup supplies, bringing its total contribution to local schools to more than $5 million in the last 12 years.

“We encourage citizens to come to our meetings and participate in Chelsea government,” Niven said. “And we’ll also soon be starting section on our website [cityofchelsea.com] that lists all our capital projects. It will be a place where citizens can see the status of various projects going on. Look for it coming in the near future.”