Work to reconfigure East Washington Street is on schedule in spite of the seemingly endless rains.

City engineer Matt House reported to the Shelbyville Board of Works on Tuesday that construction crews are making progress on the street redesign.

“Before last week they had only lost one day to the rain. It was never too hard to stop it for a full day. I think yesterday (they) stopped at 2 or 3. So we're in good shape,” he said.

At House's request, the Board of Works approved a contract with Ratio Architects and engineering firm Butler Fairman Seufert for $31,000 to assess the work on East Washington Street.

The East Washington project is due to be finished this fall.

Remodeling the street is a prelude to Mayor Tom DeBaun's overall downtown redevelopment plan.

Last week, the city's Redevelopment Commission approved funding for the downtown plan, capping that spending at $19 million, about 15 percent less than the developers had proposed.

Developer Genesis Property Group is in the process of seeking bids on the downtown project.

In other matters Tuesday, the Board of Works (file photo) approved changes to the Shelbyville Fire Department's operating manual for ambulance service.

The changes are to strengthen the guidelines for transporting patients between hospitals.

Also, the board approved a request by Walmart to set up its annual charity collection for Riley Hospital on June 22 and 29.

Walmart volunteers will collect donations at Mechanic and Harrison Streets, and this year, also at the intersection of McKay Road and State Road 9.

And the Board of Works gave permission for the Healthy Shelby County Coalition to hold a yoga exercise class at the former Major Hospital site on West Washington Street which the city owns.

The yoga session is scheduled for the morning of July 13 as part of the coalition's annual diet-and-exercise collaboration with the weekly Farmers Market across the street from the hospital site.