SANGER — Crews resumed construction Thursday on a downtown improvement project after a brief delay to correct plans for the height of the sidewalks.

Workers poured new curbs Thursday and were expected to pour sidewalks by Saturday.

DRC/Al Key

Employees of Reliable Paving Inc. of Lancaster smooth out concrete on a curb on Fifth Street on Thursday in Sanger, where sidewalks will be laid for the city’s downtown area. The City Council recently approved funding for additional lighting, sign posts, benches and planters for the historic downtown.

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Several City Council members asked about progress during Monday’s regular council meeting.

“I was wondering whether we were happy with the current construction,” Thomas Muir said.

City Manager Mike Brice assured the council that engineering problems had been fixed and that the work stoppage was brief and didn’t cost the city any extra money.

The city allocated $350,000 for new concrete walks on both sides of Bolivar Street, from Second to Fifth streets, along the downtown square and business district.

The City Council approved on Monday another $57,000 for additional lighting, sign posts, park benches and planters for the project.

The entire “streetscape” project gives a $400,000 facelift to Sanger’s historic downtown, in hopes of boosting reinvestment there. Several restaurants, including the popular Babe’s Chicken Dinner House, draw visitors downtown, but a number of old storefronts remain underused.

Brice said the street superintendent caught and corrected the error before the new concrete walks created drainage or accessibility problems for the city.

“That’s why our people are down there, too,” Brice said.

After the concrete is poured, it will be stamped and finished to look like brick.

Sanger is one of 556 Texas cities that charge extra sales tax and use the money for economic development, according to a 2008 report on Texas 4A and 4B sales tax by the Texas Economic Develop­ment Council. While the legislation has been around for two decades, the Legislature agreed in 1991 to allow a broader range of public improvement projects to qualify, including quality-of-life projects, known as 4B.

Not only is an election required to implement the tax, but voters must also renew it every four years.

PEGGY HEINKEL-WOLFE can be reached at 940-566-6881. Her e-mail address is pheinkel-wolfe@dentonrc.com .