Monday, December 04, 2006
Fairmount Bridge
At the last City Council meeting I requested information on a new bridge proposed on Fairmount just North of 49th Street. Here is a summary of the reply form Dee Bruemmer, Public Works Director:
“Federal Aid Bridge Replacement Funds are allocated by the Iowa department of Transportation (DOT) to bridges throughout the state based on these sufficiency ratings. The referenced bridge became eligible and an agreement was entered into by Council approving the use of Federal Funds on March of 2005. The Federal Funds will reimburse the City for up to 80% of the construction costs. The agreement requires the project to be under contract by September of 2008.”
Of the 20% responsibility from the City, “Partial project funding through the CIP has come on line each year with the latest installment becoming available in July of 2006. As part of the annual Capital Improvement Program request submittals, we have reviewed the past cost estimates based on our most current work on the project. We have asked for an additional $50,000 in FY08 in order to ensure that adequate funding is available for the project.”
It appears that if the city will be reimbursed for 80% of the costs and monies have already been allocated for the remaining 20%. My concern is that we may be continuing to put money into this project in the future solely to cover inflation.
The bridge is proposed to be four lanes and carry traffic to develop this part of the 2nd Ward. Realistically, there may not be the infrastructure in place to sustain any growth and if we do not use the funds currently available 80% of them will disappear by September of 2008. I am waiting for a report on where, if at all, growth can occur West of Pine in the 2nd Ward.
“Federal Aid Bridge Replacement Funds are allocated by the Iowa department of Transportation (DOT) to bridges throughout the state based on these sufficiency ratings. The referenced bridge became eligible and an agreement was entered into by Council approving the use of Federal Funds on March of 2005. The Federal Funds will reimburse the City for up to 80% of the construction costs. The agreement requires the project to be under contract by September of 2008.”
Of the 20% responsibility from the City, “Partial project funding through the CIP has come on line each year with the latest installment becoming available in July of 2006. As part of the annual Capital Improvement Program request submittals, we have reviewed the past cost estimates based on our most current work on the project. We have asked for an additional $50,000 in FY08 in order to ensure that adequate funding is available for the project.”
It appears that if the city will be reimbursed for 80% of the costs and monies have already been allocated for the remaining 20%. My concern is that we may be continuing to put money into this project in the future solely to cover inflation.
The bridge is proposed to be four lanes and carry traffic to develop this part of the 2nd Ward. Realistically, there may not be the infrastructure in place to sustain any growth and if we do not use the funds currently available 80% of them will disappear by September of 2008. I am waiting for a report on where, if at all, growth can occur West of Pine in the 2nd Ward.
# posted by Hamerlinck @ 12:49 PM 
