At the 3/24/14 city council meeting the Monticello Road - South project was placed on a list for the Mid America Regional Council for projects getting federal funding. Being placed on the list of submitted projects does not guarantee that it will be approved. If it is approved though it is listed for the 2018 year with federal funds of $10,960,000 with the city's match to be $2,740,00.
Let's do a quick recap about what has happened in the past. The city spent over $3 million and virtually got nothing for their money. They got some land, with homes that had to be demolished, some temporary easements for construction and a few other things. Some street lights were removed to make way for the proposed widened street. Telephone poles were moved. When residents of the area questioned whether or not an 8" high pressure natural gas pipeline would have to be relocated, many of them were met with derision and condescending comments. For those who might need something physical to understand an 8" pipeline, take a 25" belt and see how many people it would fit. Those folks could fit inside an 8" pipeline.
Anyway, the light bulb finally went off and the city negotiated the cost of relocating the pipeline. After about 1 to 1-1/2 years of negotiations it came to pass that the cost of the relocation would be $1.85 million and the city's share would be 70%, or $1.3 million. This information is available in the minutes of the 7/13/2009 council meeting minutes. That is only 4 months shy of five years ago.
Yours truly, got up last Monday and asked some general questions: like what would the cost be now? or two years from now? or five years from now? Naturally, there were no estimates given. I did make a slight error when I spoke to the council. I said my memory seemed to recall that the city's cost was going to be $1.5 million.
Now, what happend in the past? Because of the time it took the city to negotiate the cost of relocating the pipeline, the city lost its ability to come up with its share of matching funds, and lost the CARS money that would have been used for the project.
I feel the city needs to make a determination as to when they are going to begin negotiating a new cost for the relocation of the pipeline. Especially in view of how long it took last time. Additionally, the citizens of Shawnee (all of Shawnee, not just the residents in that area) need to know how much extra the city will have to pay, over and above construction costs, for the relocation of the pipeline.
WARNING!!!!!! The City Manager of Shawnee has determined that local bloggers post items that may contain bad or misinformation. Please read these posts with care and determine for yourself whether the information is valid.
