LEGISLATIVE ACTION ITEM
SPONSOR: City Council Member Sherri F. Myers
SUBJECT:
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LOST IV FUNDING FOR BURGESS ROAD (MYERS)
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RECOMMENDATION:
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That City Council approve $1,600,000 in unallocated LOST IV Funds from the 2017 budget for installation of sidewalks and drainage on Burgess Road from Sewell St. to Sanders St. In the alternative, that City Council remove $1,600,000 from the proposed Bayview Resource Center allocation of $8,250,000 and place this amount under a new line under Public Works entitled “Burgess Road Project” within the LOST IV Funding Plan.
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HEARING REQUIRED: No Hearing Required
SUMMARY:
Burgess Road is an 80 year old thoroughfare that is used by many, particularly children who walk, ride bicycles, and travel to three locale schools, including Workman Middle School, Holms Elementary and Washington High Schools.
Burgess Road is extremely dangerous for pedestrians and cyclist as most of the road has ditches for drainage on either side of the road. Over the past 20 years, residents of Burgess Road and Parker Circle Community have pleaded with the City for drainage and sidewalks on Burgess Road. At least three petitions signed by residents have been presented to the City Council and the Mayor.
Mayor Ashton Hayward has stood in the ditches along Burgess Road and witnessed firsthand the dangerous conditions of the road. For 6 years I have ask the City Council and the Mayor to fix Burgess Road. Several times this year, I have met, or spoke with Dick Barker, the City’s CFO, and other city officials regarding the use of the $ 1.6 million unallocated funds in the 2017 budget for Burgess Road. It is time. It is past time for the Council and the City of Pensacola to address the issue of Burgess Road. Commissioner Grover Robinson has allocated $350,000 to fix Escambia County’s portion of Burgess Road. Commissioner Robinson stepped up to the plate with these funds in 2011. It is time for the City to step up to the plate and protect our most vulnerable citizens; poor and underserved children.
In 2016, I asked the City to borrow against the LOST IV to address the safety issues of Burgess Road. I am asking again that the City borrow against the LOST IV to provide the funding in order to improve the functioning of this area and to enhance the safe travel to schools by neighborhood children. Burgess Road is in need of road repair, storm water updates and sidewalks.
Alternatively, in 2016 the City Council agreed to allocation $6,050,000 of LOST IV funds for the Bayview Resource Center. The proposed budget presented to City Council identifies the amount allocated for the Bayview Resource Center to be $8,250,000 under the year 2017; a difference of
$2, 2000,000 not previously approved for allocation by the City Council.
This proposal take $1,600,000 from the $2,200,000 difference and creating a new line item under Public Works within the LOST IV Funding Plan, titling this line item “Burgess Road Project.”
PRIOR ACTION:
November 2014 - Referendum extending the Local Option Sales Tax (LOST IV)
FUNDING:
Budget: $ 0
Actual: $1.6 million
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
$1.6 million will be allocated for the Burgess Road project within the LOST IV Funding
STAFF CONTACT:
Don Kraher, Council Executive
ATTACHMENTS:
1) LOST IV Proposed in 2017 budget document
2) PNJ Article 2014
3) Handouts from Council Member Myers
PRESENTATION: No