1/18/08 - My view - River Trail

I have the privilege of serving on the Highway Committee, as well as the General Services and Judiciary & Public Safety (JPS).

The Highway Committee is responsible for shepherding the River Trail project. We discussed the issue of the now $2.8 million project, it's impact on taxpayers and options available to the County at the 1/15 committee meeting.

It appears that this project was originally proposed in the late 1990's, and finally got off the ground in 2003. Unfortunately, the original project cost of $1,400,000 was never adjusted for inflation over those years, nor projected out for project construction. In addition, there were approximately $600,000 in easement costs that were not included in the project.

What this means is that the project is in serious jeopardy in its current design. The source funding cannot be increased, at this point there are no other opportunities to obtain the money to fill the shortfall other than the County to supplement the probable $1.4 million.

Another twist is that if the project does not commence (trail is not built in its entirety), the original funding is pulled and the County becomes responsible for all costs incurred. In this case, it will be in the order of $250,000 for engineering fees for the study and the design of the project.

My thoughts - we need to look at de-scoping the project, possibly reducing the width of the path and looking at alternative routing to reduce easement costs. If the project can be brought down to a manageable level, such as $1.7 million, it would still be a benefit to the County. As we are already committed to costs for $250,000, every attempt should be made to produce something the County can enjoy.

I will not vote to abandon the project without every effort to make this project come closer to budget. I would rather spend $250,000 to get a project completed than to walk away and have nothing.