Downtown overlay enacted

By Janet Jacobs

August 20, 2008 01:19 am

— Downtown’s overlay and brick street project were a top priority when the Corsicana City Council met in regular session Tuesday.
The council voted unanimously to pass the overlay ordinance, despite weeks of delay from property owners in the district who felt the rules were vague or too restrictive.
The overlay is a set of additional ordinances that would only apply to downtown. It allows some flexibility on issues, such as sidewalk restaurants, while prohibiting others, such as metal buildings.
Half a dozen property owners and Strategic Planning Group members spoke out in favor of the overlay before the council voted. None of the opponents spoke, although some people who have been vocal in their dislike of the ordinance were in the audience Tuesday evening.
Two changes to the ordinance were made in the last week — to allow slightly more display space on the sidewalks, depending on how much street frontage a store has, and to allow industrial-looking buildings in the area off Ninth Avenue, which is already industrial.
The council also added an amendment to allow the two downtown feed stores to continue to use trailers for hay, since the fire department has required it for safety purposes.
The overlay will encourage future investment, and reward past investment, said Lowell Dunn, who is a downtown property owner.
Bill Maupin, who also owns a downtown building which was remodeled in 2002, said he felt the overlay would protect his investment.
“We’re all trying to create a more vibrant city that will attract businesses and families to come live in this beautiful area,” said Dan Wilke, a member of the Strategic Planning Group.
The council also voted to forge ahead on the downtown brick street project currently stalled on Third Avenue between Beaton and Main streets. The project was originally expected to cost the city about $150,000, plus a state grant of $150,000. However, bids came in high, which upped the price to $391,678, or $82,928 more than expected.
On Tuesday, however, the council authorized an additional $87,076 to finish the project. The change order came because the engineer’s report stated that underneath the bricks was a sandy subsurface. In fact, workers found about five to six inches of concrete under the bricks, which has to be removed. Underneath that, however, is a clay subsurface, which needs stabilizing, all of which costs more money, explained Elizabeth Borstad, city engineer.
The council was offered five options on how to deal with the problem, including abandoning the bricks and going with asphalt, but three of the options would require the city to forego the state’s grant money because the bricks wouldn’t go back.
One option the council discussed in the work session is to try to get some money from the engineering group. The city wants to get about $46,000 from the company, which his how much it will cost to take up the concrete, said City Manager Connie Standridge. The company has acknowledged it made an error, and offered to work off $35,000 with engineering services, but the city prefers the cash, Standridge said.
By going forward, and using the state grant, it will cost the city $53,000 more than if it stops now, and the city will still get the ramps and bricks, explained Randy Dill, precinct 4.
“We can point fingers at what created the problem, but looking at the numbers, if we go with asphalt, it will be $33,000 more than we thought in the beginning with no ramps or bricks,” Dill said. “For $53,000 more we get bricks and ramps.”
The additional $87,076 will be borrowed from another project in the same bond sale, the remodeling of the Government Center. In 2006, the city sold some certificates of obligation to pay for 10 smaller projects, including brick street repairs, renovating city hall, finishing the Visitor’s Center, and the Interurban Car project. The money will come out of the city hall renovation, Standridge said. That project is at least two years in the future.
Going forward with the brick street project will also be the quickest way to bring it to a conclusion, Borstad said.
Several business owners came forward during the public forum to object to the work stoppage along Third, including Peggy Herod, of Herod’s Radiator and Electric, and Lori Hippard and Shelly Simmington, who own a hair salon.
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Janet Jacobs may be reached via e-mail at jacobs@corsicanadailysun.com

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