Officials discuss how much to spend on Morford Street

How much will be done in phase two of McMinnville’s Downtown Economic Revitalization Project? Elected officials will soon decide.

During the battle of engineers, James C. Hailey vs. EG&G, the Morford Street portion of the project got a little off schedule. Along with that, the city lost an opportunity to get a $600,000 Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) grant.

Despite that, the project is moving forward.

Now that elected officials have decided on Hailey, he will be presenting the city a list of preliminary design tasks and a cost estimate. From there, officials can determine how much can be done based on how much they would like to spend.

Some officials only want to spend what the city has received in grants.

‘I personally want to spend the $1.2 million the government has given us,’ said Alderman Billy Wood. ‘I do not have any intention of spending $4.5 million on the lower end of Morford Street. For $1.2 we can put in decorative lights, repair some sidewalks, and saw out crosswalks where needed.’

The city received state funding of $975,000 from the Transportation Enhancement Act in October 2005 to be used with Morford Street construction. Because the city contracted with a TDOT-approved company for the project, the amount was increased to $1.2 million.

The money does come with requirements. The city must match 20 percent, which can be made with in-kind work. And if the money isn’t used, the state gets it back.

It has been almost two years and construction has not begun. Because of this, officials questioned if the funding was still available, and city administrator David Rutherford was asked to find out.

‘I talked to TDOT and the funding is not in jeopardy,’ said Rutherford. ‘We need to go ahead and make some decisions but they aren’t going to take it away next week. We do need to go ahead and resolve the issue.’

For other grants, the outcome isn’t as certain. The ARC grant, which the city missed out on last year, will be applied for again this year by Hailey. However, an application does not guarantee acceptance.