The Locust Road Improvement Project will include a utility trench

The Decorah City Council has approved proceeding with the installation of an underground trench to carry electrical wires, communication cables and other utilities.

The trench has already been part of the low bid by Skyline Construction for the project--a $418,000 cost--but City Administrator Chad Bird asked for a formal vote Monday night to make sure the city council wanted to do that part of the Locust Road project.  City council member Randy Schissel said the utility services would be more secure if they were in the underground trench, where storms and other problems would not occur.

The vote came following a separate vote on the second reading of approval of a franchise agreement with Alliant Energy.  The franchise agreement will come up for a final vote in two weeks.