MARSHALL — Earlier this month, they had tried and failed to settle on a plan for proposed street and utility replacements on South First Street. And at Tuesday’s meeting of the Marshall City Council, there was still some disagreement on how to proceed. However, council members were able to get the needed number of votes to approve a modified plan for South First Street.

The option, one of four presented to council members, includes a roadway that is 38 feet across, and five-foot sidewalks.

Discussion of the planned reconstruction on South First Street was tabled at the council’s last meeting, when it was unable to approve a plan by a supermajority of six out of seven members.

“Our city engineer and his staff have prepared some other alternatives,” Marshall Mayor Bob Byrnes said at Tuesday’s meeting.

This summer, the city had planned to rebuild the street between Southview Drive and George Street, and the utility lines underneath it. Including contingency and engineering costs, the project has an estimated cost of $995,300.

The city received objections to the project from residents along South First Street. While Anderson said most people were in favor of updating the water and sewer lines underneath the street, some residents didn’t want the addition of sidewalks on about three blocks of the street, where there weren’t originally sidewalks. Other residents thought making the street about four feet narrower, as originally planned, wouldn’t be safe due to the amount of traffic and on-street parking in that area.

At Tuesday’s meeting, Anderson said there were reasons why the project was designed with a narrower roadway.

“It’s lower up-front installation cost, it’s lower continuing maintenance cost,” as well as creating less runoff and allowing more space for trees, Anderson said. In addition, a narrower roadway encourages people to drive more slowly, he said.

The project also included sidewalk connections. “It’s been prioritized in city policy to include sidewalks in our reconstruction projects,” Anderson said.

Anderson presented the council with four possible alternatives for the project, including a “compromise” with 38-foot streets instead of 36-foot streets, five-foot sidewalks, and a five-foot boulevard between the sidewalk and the curb.

Council member Steven Meister said while there were disagreements about the street and sidewalk portions of the project, the updates to water and sewer lines were needed.

“It’s clear to me that without some sort of compromise, this project just won’t get done,” said Meister. The alternatives presented Tuesday wouldn’t leave everyone happy, but they were a good compromise, he said.

Council member Russ Labat urged the council to consider the needs and wishes of the citizens affected by the construction.

“The residents of South First Street have let us know how they feel about the proposed project,” Labat said. Most of the residents along the street were clear in not wanting new sidewalks or a narrower street, he said. The difference was that now, social distancing measures prevented large groups of people from filling the council chambers to voice their objections.

Council members were able to cast a six-vote supermajority approving an option for a 38-foot street with five-foot sidewalks. Labat had the dissenting vote.