Jackson could soon have another $3.5 million to address immediate road, water and sewer needs.
Actually, the city already has the money. It just had to find it.
The one-percent oversight commission has gotten a long-awaited project reconciliation.
Now, commissioners are planning to “de-fund” some 24 projects to address urgent needs.
Projects being de-funded include those that have already been completed and have monies left over, as well as those that were funded, but never implemented because construction costs came in over budget.
Oversight members chose the items from a list of 56 line-items presented at a recent work session.
The commission won’t officially vote to de-fund the items until its next meeting, on Wednesday, August 8.
Combined, the items account for some $3.5 million.
The recommendations are supported by Vice Chair Duane O’Neill and Commissioner Jonathan Lee.
“Some of those projects were passed more than a year and a half or two years ago, and there may be some more crucial projects that need funding,” Lee said. “I think it makes sense, to use our resources on the most urgent needs.”
Many of the projects were approved as part of the first-year master plan, adopted by the commission in 2015.
The plan included 37 projects and $13.7 million in allocations.
Among allocations, the commission is planning to de-obligate nearly $69,000 in funds set aside for program management, $21,800 set aside for professional services, $210,000 for the purchase of heavy equipment and $185,000 for design work for the North State Street Reconstruction Project, according to city documents.
As for program management services, $69,000 remained from the more than $800,000 set aside for the work.
On the North State project, the design work has been completed and construction is already under way.
The commission is not de-funding the second phase of design work for the Riverside Drive Reconstruction Project or for the second phase of the Eastover Drive Water Main replacement project.
As for Riverside, the first phase is being designed by Waggoner Engineering. That project will include reconstructing the roadway from the I-55 North flyover bridge to Peachtree Street.
The second phase of engineering will include rebuilding the road from Peachtree to North State.
Approximately $634,000 remains for the second phase design, according to work session minutes.
The first phase of the water main project included replacing a 10-inch main with a 12-inch line along the south side of Eastover from the I-55 North frontage road to Ridgewood Road.
The second phase calls for replacing a six-inch main with a 10-inch line from Twin Lakes Circle to Dogwood Drive.
About $278,000 remain for that work, and residents there have agreed to help fund the work “if it allows the project to move faster,” Public Works Director Robert Miller told commissioners.
A copy of the minutes, including the list of de-obligated projects, can be found on the Sun’s Web site, at northsidesun.com.
