MONROE - The 8th/9th Street reconstruction and widening has been off-again, on-again for the past five years.
Now it's back on, with the state agreeing to give its 80 percent grant based on the project's current full value of about $4.5 million.
That leaves the city with less than $1 million of its own money to kick in.
The city also will need $500,000 to purchase land and determine the value of the land purchased to facilitate the project.
Director of Public Works Kelly Finkenbinder said he was not sure how much money set aside for the land purchases is in the budget.
The original cost for the project was estimated at $2.5 million in 2003.
The project has been held up since June 2006 because of three forms that needed signing by multiple state regulatory agencies.
The forms should have been completed by May 2007, Mayor Ron Marsh said last month. The holdup was not caused by anything the city did or did not do, Marsh said.
On Nov. 17, still without confirmation of the forms completion, the Board of Public Works determined the city's cost to complete the project had risen to about $3.5 million.
That amount was too much, board members and Marsh said, after the Finance and Taxation Committee had just gone through several rounds of cuts to balance the 2009 budget.
As an alternative, the board requested city engineers and department heads create a scaled-back plan from Seventh to 20th Avenue, without state aid, and including the cost of bonding for the project. The scaled back plan would not have included land purchases for widening the street.
"One day prior to completion (of the new plan), the state agreed to value the grant at the full value," Director of Public Works Kelly Finkenbinder said.
The earliest the city could send out for bids on the project is 2010, Finkenbinder said.
Next year will be used to hire an appraiser and to contact land parcel owners about purchasing pieces of land to allow the widening and straightening of the street.
The city still must look at bonding for the project. Board member Alderman Charles Schuringa urged the board to move quickly.
"The longer we wait, the more money it's going to cost," he said.
During the project, while the street is open, the water and wastewater utilities will replace and update their lines. Those costs are paid by the utility.
Those utility lines are among the oldest in the city, according to Alderman Keith Ingwell, president of the board.
Alderman Jan Lefevre told the board that while she approves of replacing the water lines and the bridge over the road near Eighth Avenue, she never has favored widening the street.
"I'm opposed to widening and land acquisition," she said.
Lefevre said many houses along Eighth and Ninth Street already are set close to the street. She also expressed concern about driveways in the area of Red Apple and Kwik Trip.
Finkenbinder said the state grant is based upon the state's recommendation that land be acquired and the street widened for safety.
Alderman Chuck Koch said he would like to see the city go ahead with the project, especially with the state aid.
"It's something we're going to have to live with for 50-plus years. Let's do it right. If we're spending $3 million on the downtown area, I think we should have a decent road to get there," Koch said.
The timing of the state's increased grant puts the majority of the street construction into 2010, a Cheese Days year, which board members had wanted to stay away from.
But members are asking whether the work could be substantially completed before Cheese Days.
Board members are calling for the original plans to be brought to the board Jan. 5 to get familiar with them again, and because some aldermen were not elected when the original plans were approved. They also will look at the property value to be lost with land acquisition.
Now it's back on, with the state agreeing to give its 80 percent grant based on the project's current full value of about $4.5 million.
That leaves the city with less than $1 million of its own money to kick in.
The city also will need $500,000 to purchase land and determine the value of the land purchased to facilitate the project.
Director of Public Works Kelly Finkenbinder said he was not sure how much money set aside for the land purchases is in the budget.
The original cost for the project was estimated at $2.5 million in 2003.
The project has been held up since June 2006 because of three forms that needed signing by multiple state regulatory agencies.
The forms should have been completed by May 2007, Mayor Ron Marsh said last month. The holdup was not caused by anything the city did or did not do, Marsh said.
On Nov. 17, still without confirmation of the forms completion, the Board of Public Works determined the city's cost to complete the project had risen to about $3.5 million.
That amount was too much, board members and Marsh said, after the Finance and Taxation Committee had just gone through several rounds of cuts to balance the 2009 budget.
As an alternative, the board requested city engineers and department heads create a scaled-back plan from Seventh to 20th Avenue, without state aid, and including the cost of bonding for the project. The scaled back plan would not have included land purchases for widening the street.
"One day prior to completion (of the new plan), the state agreed to value the grant at the full value," Director of Public Works Kelly Finkenbinder said.
The earliest the city could send out for bids on the project is 2010, Finkenbinder said.
Next year will be used to hire an appraiser and to contact land parcel owners about purchasing pieces of land to allow the widening and straightening of the street.
The city still must look at bonding for the project. Board member Alderman Charles Schuringa urged the board to move quickly.
"The longer we wait, the more money it's going to cost," he said.
During the project, while the street is open, the water and wastewater utilities will replace and update their lines. Those costs are paid by the utility.
Those utility lines are among the oldest in the city, according to Alderman Keith Ingwell, president of the board.
Alderman Jan Lefevre told the board that while she approves of replacing the water lines and the bridge over the road near Eighth Avenue, she never has favored widening the street.
"I'm opposed to widening and land acquisition," she said.
Lefevre said many houses along Eighth and Ninth Street already are set close to the street. She also expressed concern about driveways in the area of Red Apple and Kwik Trip.
Finkenbinder said the state grant is based upon the state's recommendation that land be acquired and the street widened for safety.
Alderman Chuck Koch said he would like to see the city go ahead with the project, especially with the state aid.
"It's something we're going to have to live with for 50-plus years. Let's do it right. If we're spending $3 million on the downtown area, I think we should have a decent road to get there," Koch said.
The timing of the state's increased grant puts the majority of the street construction into 2010, a Cheese Days year, which board members had wanted to stay away from.
But members are asking whether the work could be substantially completed before Cheese Days.
Board members are calling for the original plans to be brought to the board Jan. 5 to get familiar with them again, and because some aldermen were not elected when the original plans were approved. They also will look at the property value to be lost with land acquisition.