City officials want a 3-lane option with turn lane for bridge

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MORRISON – The City Council also asked the Illinois Department of Transportation to redesign the U.S. Route 30 bridge planned for Rock Creek.

City officials want to scrap the 2-lane plan with a bike path and sidewalk in favor of a 3-lane option with a turn lane.

After a public workshop last week between city officials, IDOT engineers and area residents, the group determined the safety of having longer turn lanes in the run-up to Garden Plains Road and Milnes Drive was more important than a bicycle path that was intended to someday link Rockwood State Park with Sterling and the Hennepin Canal trail.

The council also received a preliminary thumbs up on the city’s bookkeeping for the 2008-2009 fiscal year.

Jill VanRoekel, an accountant with Winkel, Parker and Foster, told the council the only irreconcilable difference she encountered during her audit was a lack of internal fraud protections.

In many cases, the same city employee approved purchases, signed the transactions, and returned to the books with an invoice, VanRoekel said.

The lack of protection shouldn’t be misconstrued to suggest embezzlement, rather, “It’s something many people [in small municipalities] deal with,” VanRoekel said.

City Administrator Tim Long said he wanted to discuss with the council at next month’s meeting a few possibilities for adding an additional layer of financial oversight without bringing on more staff.

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