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Forest Hill Road |
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Macon, Ga Houston Avenue a win-win with Forest Hill Rd. |
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Forest Hill Road |
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Macon, Ga Houston Avenue a win-win with Forest Hill Rd. |
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Posted on Mon, Nov. 27, 2006 http://www.macon.com/mld/macon/news/16104604.htm Bibb commissioners clash about road project again Bivins allies with Hart on Houston Avenue work By Keich Whicker TELEGRAPH STAFF WRITER Another Bibb County commissioner has joined Sam Hart's call to complete the Houston Avenue road project as originally promised, regardless of how much money it takes. Commissioners Bert Bivins and Sam Hart called on the board of commissioners recently to "do what they promised" and forget about reducing the scope of the project, a move suggested by some county officials concerned about cost overruns. "We need to do the full-fledged project that was promised in the roads program and not a compromised version," said Hart, who warned the county's inability to get started on the project and fully complete it after years of promises and delays is quickly becoming an embarrassment. "This is a real test for our integrity, whether we're going to do what we said we were going to do," he said. Both Bivins and Hart refused to be mollified by claims that constructing the project at its original scope could cost the county as much as $12 million to $17 million and potentially bankrupt the entire county roads program. "Whatever it takes to get it done, I'm going to propose it and I want this board to take a stand," Bivins said. Commission Chairman Charlie Bishop said the discussion about Houston Avenue has become "involved with politics" and that the question nobody can answer is: Where's the extra money going to come from? "That's what we need to determine," Bishop said. "You really don't know what it's going to cost until you get your bids, and nobody can say where we're going to get the money to pay for it." The refurbishing of Houston Avenue is one of the original projects promised in a 1994 sales tax proposal to fund road maintenance. Originally scheduled for completion in 2003, the project that was designed to fix problems of crumbling pavement, potholes and clogged storm-water sewers - as well as add some sidewalks - became bogged down because of the utilities alongside and under the avenue's pavement, officials have said. Residents along the avenue have continually expressed that they are upset no work has been done on the road, a circumstance county officials say is due to escalating construction costs and the county's inability to attract acceptable bids on the project. Three bids have been rejected because they were all at least 18 percent higher than the project's $6 million budget. But that explanation doesn't sit well with the county's critics, who say the high bids and cost overruns could have been avoided if the county acted more quickly years ago. To finally get the project moving, some commissioners recently said that instead of making all the improvements at the same time, the county would consider pursuing a three-part plan that would focus on milling and resurfacing the road and repairing damaged sidewalks instead. Hart objected to that, saying a piecemeal approach that shortchanges Houston Avenue residents would be a black eye for the county, both politically and engineering-wise. Hart said the county currently is performing an evaluation of the avenue's sewer needs with machinery that goes inside the pipes and inspects them. That evaluation is likely to find old piping that will need substantial work, he said. "If we go and do a Band-Aid on a serious problem and we still have drainage issues, it's going to buck and people will be riding down a bumpy street in an other four or five years," he said. "These (types of projects) don't come along that often, and when they do we ought to fix it for the next 20 or 30 years." Bishop said commissioners have an obligation to consider the entire roads program when making decisions about funding and cost overruns that might jeopardize other projects. "We have to look at the total county," he said, arguing that taking money from other projects to pay for Houston Avenue was akin to reneging on promises made when the additional sales tax was approved. "We can't just look at one road." Bivins said the people of Houston Avenue deserve more consideration. "Those people out there voted, too," he said. "And they expected that road to be done properly." Hart acknowledged the county's road program would face funding problems if it wants to complete the project, but he argued for finding solutions and pushing ahead anyway. This, despite the fact that moving money from other projects, which commissioners haven't agreed to do at this point, will not make up the difference, either. To fill the coffers, Hart suggested the county should consider another sales tax initiative or bonds to fully fund the project. Commissioners, who are expected to huddle sometime in December to consider what options are available to them about the road project, said they are open to Hart's suggestion but aren't sure there is enough money to be had. "We're going to look at it again," Bishop said. "We weren't disagreeing. The only thing I was saying (was) that we needed to meet and find out where the money is going to come from. Nobody's said there's not a way to do it within reason." To contact writer Keich Whicker, call 744-4494 or e-mail kwhicker@macontel.com Posted on Thu, Nov. 30, 2006 http://www.macon.com/mld/macon/news/local/16127183.htm Houston Ave. to be done as first planned By Keich Whicker TELEGRAPH STAFF WRITER Bibb County Commission Chairman Charlie Bishop said Wednesday that the county will find the money to complete the Houston Avenue road project as originally promised, rather than scaling back the work. "We're committed," he said. "Regardless of the costs involved, regardless of the budget overruns, we've made the determination that it has to be done exactly as designed. To do anything else would cause further funding problems later down the road." Originally estimated to cost about $4 million, the Houston Avenue project will now cost the county about $18 million. The county's decision to fully fund the restoration of the road and its infrastructure is an about-face from a controversial decision made earlier this year to pursue a scaled-down version of the project. Bishop said the change of direction announced Wednesday came after commissioners were informed about a recent evaluation of the avenue's sewer that showed the street's storm-water system was in dire need of repair. Previously, commissioners had hoped to avoid having to spend millions of dollars to replace that system, but the study showed the "system was worse than anticipated and requires that it be repaired," Bishop said. "The storm-water infrastructure along there has been let go and not maintained for such a long period of time that it would be impossible to do anything other than replace it," he said. "We've got to do it." There has been no official date set for the start of construction, but it will take years to completely replace the road and the storm-water system, officials said. Bishop said it will take the county a couple of weeks to determine exactly where $18 million will come from, but that everyone is committed to securing the money and getting started. "We've been trying to find funding, because there was only so much funding designated," he said. Commissioners have suggested that the county will consider a combination of moving funds from other projects and relying on another sales tax initiative or bonds to fully fund the project. The refurbishing of Houston Avenue is one of the original projects promised in a 1994 sales tax proposal to fund road maintenance. First scheduled for completion in 2003, the project that was designed to fix problems of crumbling pavement, potholes and clogged storm-water sewers - as well as add some sidewalks - became bogged down because of the utilities alongside and under the avenue's pavement, officials have said. Residents along the avenue have continually expressed that they are upset no work has been done on the road, a circumstance county officials say is because of escalating construction costs and the county's inability to attract acceptable bids on the project. Three bids have been rejected because they were all at least 18 percent higher than the project's budget. But that explanation hasn't sat well with the county's critics, who say the high bids and cost overruns could have been avoided if the county had acted more quickly years ago. To finally get the project moving, commissioners suggested earlier this year that instead of making all the improvements at the same time, the county would consider pursuing a three-part plan that would focus on milling and resurfacing the road and repairing damaged sidewalks instead. Commissioners Sam Hart and Bert Bivins, the two men whose districts touch the four miles of road slated for construction, didn't like that idea. Both men accused the county of shortchanging the residents of Houston Avenue and argued that scaling down the project was akin to reneging on a promise made years ago to the voters. Bishop and other officials said they had no problem building the entire project, but they worried about where the county was going to find the money for the substantial cost overruns. "I don't think any commissioner didn't want to complete it," said the chairman, who at one point quipped that the debate about Houston Avenue was becoming "involved with politics." Hart said Wednesday that he was happy with the commission's decision to complete the entire project. "It goes a long way to recreating and maintaining credibility for us," he said. "Especially as we go forward in trying to do some other things for the county. ... If we did the compromised version, it would have left us with something that likely would have come back to haunt us in four or five years." To contact writer Keich Whicker, call 744-4494 or e-mail kwhicker@macontel.com back to Forest Hill Road |
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Bibb
Commission Chairman is informed of options: |
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Mr. Michael Wallwork's letter: |
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- CAUTION Macon - |
