Council pledges $100K for Grow

Published 8:00 am Saturday, November 4, 2006

One councilor says the city has been ‘jerked around’ by neighbors.

The City Council paved Grow Avenue with a new coat of greenbacks Wednesday, a week after stripping the road of nearly a half-million dollars in upgrades.

Up to $100,000 was appropriated for Grow by the council during 2007 budgeting, to fund a new round of design work.

Councilwoman Debbie Vancil, the resolution’s sponsor, said the money is aimed at crafting a “a comprehensive, whole-street design” rather than a “piecemeal approach.”

The council last week sent back a $450,000 federal transportation grant some Grow residents said was tied to a city design that failed to meet the neighborhood’s standards.

Grow residents contend that the design didn’t take a “holistic” view of the neighborhood’s safety needs, transportation preferences and environmental concerns.

The abandoned project, which included non-motorized transportation upgrades and storm drain improvements, also included about $270,000 in city funds.

Vancil requested that city money remain earmarked for the west Winslow street in the 2007 city budget. Other councilors balked at the cost, cutting the allotment to under $100,000.

But the notion of sending any money back to Grow wasn’t an easy sell, so soon after the neighborhood rejected what amounted to years of collaborative work with residents, a sizable grant and over $110,000 in consultants’ design and other fees.

By a 4-3 vote, the council narrowly approved the $100,000 appropriation.

Councilman Chris Snow was the resolution’s sharpest critic. He said the council has been characterized as having “a tendency to go in all directions at once” when tackling tough issues.

“This is yet another one, and I think it’s a mistake,” Snow said. “It sends the wrong message, not only to the people of Grow, but any people on other thoroughfares that need work, about how much the council can be jerked around.”

Councilman Bob Scales also expressed concerns about the funding proposal.

“It creates an extremely high expectation that this will be a model street on the island,” he said. “We have to pause with Grow Avenue.”

Despite the avenue’s relatively small size, Scales fears that Grow may drain funding for other necessary roads projects.

“It’s a high-maintenance road, and I don’t mean the road itself,” he said, hinting at the neighborhood’s level of involvement in Grow’s design.

Public Works Director Randy Witt agreed, saying project costs for public involvement could be 10 to 20 percent higher for Grow due to its controversial history and importance to residents.

Vancil said the city must start on Grow’s overall improvements as soon as possible.

“If we pause now it puts us way back and we have to start over again,” she said, estimating total costs for Grow improvements could eventually swell to $3 million.