OROVILLE – The Oroville City Council heard a report that the majority of work done to correct problems with the Oroville Pedestrian Project has been completed.

Rod Noel, Superintendent of Public Works, said the project supervisor said most of the sidewalk was fixed and that only small pieces remained to be put in.

“Paul felt that most of the project was complete… he felt that Cates and Erb had done a good job of fixing the difficulties,” said Noel.

The sidewalk project connected existing sidewalk in town with new walkways stretching north and south to the city limits along the east side of Main Street and Highway 97. The state refused to sign off on the project when completed this past summer due to parts not adhering to the standards set forth in the Americans with Disabilities Act. The city also had problems with water pooling along certain intersections where drainage was not properly constructed.

Noel also reported that the city’s Biosolids Project at the wastewater treatment facility was complete and that the city had received it’s certification as a Class A biosolids producer – one of the few in this region of the state.

The equipment installed turns sewage wastes into a sterile product that can be used for a variety of things like soil building and fertilizer.

“I got a letter from the person who handles this at Ecology who said our Class A permit will require testing every year, as well as spot checks. We’re meeting the temperatures really easily… they were impressed with the quality of the products. He thinks it was a very good move for the City of Oroville,” Noel said.

“With that paper in hand people will be beating down our door for the product,” said Mayor Chuck Spieth.

“We’ve already had a few inquiries,” said Noel.

The superintendent is also the department head for the city parks. He reported that the city’s Veterans Memorial Park was closed for the season, but pedestrians can still use the Day Park portion from Dawn until Dusk.

City Clerk Kathy Jones said that the registration system for the park had gone on line the day before and was overwhelmed with phone calls.

“We had 127 bookings just yesterday alone,” Jones said, adding that the state had forgotten to put a link to the former state park on their registration Web site.

“The lady with reservation system said we should be proud. With that many bookings we already have $23,000 heading our way,” Jones said.