LEBANON — Final approval to rebuild one of the city's main arteries, a project delayed repeatedly for three decades, has been put on hold for another month.

        City Council voted 4-3 Tuesday to table legislation to reconstruct two miles of Main Street until the new council is seated in three weeks.

        “They should be the ones who decide,” said Jane Davenport, one of three incumbents ousted by voters Nov. 6. “If we push this through at the very end of our time, I feel like that is not fair to the city.”

        Residents and businesses have long fought the project, but city staff and a majority of council members say the 2-mile stretch must be rebuilt because the sewer underneath is in critical condition.

        The new council is not expected to halt the project, but it was not clear late Tuesday if the wait on the vote will delay its start. The Ohio Department of Transportation had planned to pick a contractor for the $12 million-plus project in January, with work to start in the spring.

        Also Tuesday, council:

        • Agreed unanimously to spend $54,000 for new equipment to televise council meetings.

        • Discussed the purchase of software for the city's finance department. The city has wrangled for more than a year over whether to buy new software from Lebanon-based Software Solutions Inc. or go with an outside company.

        • Got its first look at a $65.8 million budget developed by the current council.

        Mrs. Davenport, Mark Flick and James Mills, who voted to table the Main Street legislation, voted against tabling ordinances on the software purchase and the 2002 budget. Both are set for votes at the next meeting, Nov. 27.

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