Extended Sidewalks Coming?

By Jane DeGeorge
Published: March 6, 2008

A $350,000 grant may stretch sidewalk improvements farther south down Main Street, as long as local officials find a way to finance approximately $87,000 needed in local matching funds.

Madison town and county representatives disagree about the amount each entity should contribute toward the project, which would likely continue a near-complete streetscapes project along Main Street in downtown Madison. Officials believe the grant would likely cover the cost of new sidewalks, curbs and gutters along the town’s main drag from the Madison Department of Social Services building at 101 S. Main St. to the southern end of town.

At the Greater Madison Main Street Project committee’s March 3 meeting, Madison Mayor Willie Lamar said he would be “comfortable asking the town to budget up to $45,000,” toward the project, noting that he was unsure if the town council would support that.

If the town agreed to that figure, about $42,000 would be required in county funds, which Madison County Board of Supervisors Chairman Eddie Dean said he would “have a hard time supporting…with what investment we’ve made up to this point.”

Dean said he did not feel comfortable specifying a dollar amount the supervisors may be willing to contribute since the board, as a group, had not specifically discussed its contribution to the local match.
Town Councilman Charles Carter noted that the town’s budget would not cover the entire amount of local funds required to receive the grant.

“It would be a shame to turn that money back because we don’t come up with the money here locally for doing improvements to the town,” Main Street Project Committee Chairman Bill Gentry told the group.
“[If we turn the grant away] our chances are we’ll never get anymore, in all likelihood, in today’s climate,” he said.

Other possible sources of funding discussed by committee members included a financial contribution by the Madison Chamber of Commerce, which Gentry said he believes has no money to contribute, and individual donors.

Madison County Administrator Lisa Kelley said she believes the amount of local funds required will be between $85,000-$87,000. The amount needed in cash could possibly be reduced, since local officials may be able to “pay” a certain percentage of the match “in kind,” which means a certain amount of time or services offered by local officials (relating to the administration of this specific project) would be accepted as the equivalent of cash.

Since the amount town and county officials could pay “in kind” toward the local funds would be difficult to determine before the project has started, Kelley suggested the town and county plan to pay the full $87,000 now, possibly reducing it later.

“I would say at best you might be able to reduce that by about $20,000,” she said.

Initial plans for Main Street’s streetscapes project involved sidewalk revamps of the entire length of Main Street in town however, the project area was reduced when the improvements proved to cost more than the previously awarded grant.

The project’s contractor, Waynesboro-based construction company Linco, previously agreed to charge its initially quoted prices for additional work, according to Gentry. Officials say that Linco representatives have told them verbally that the additional grant money would likely cover the cost of improving sidewalks and curbs from the social services building to the town’s southern limits, however that they have not yet received that statement in writing.

If the additional grant is received, Gentry said that the committee may re-bid the project in an effort to get a lower price than was previously estimated.

“The general economic climate in the construction business has changed to benefit the customer,” he said.

Officials had previously discussed possibly using the money to fund part of a project to remove overhead power lines on Main Street, according to Gentry, however this idea was dismissed when it was determined it would cost more than the awarded grant.

Also at the Greater Madison Main Street Project committee’s regularly scheduled March 3 meeting, the committee:

• Listened to a request by Susan Bernhardt, owner of Main Street gift shop The Last Nickel, for the committee to follow-up on a recommendation it made to the Madison Town Council this past year regarding a revision to the town’s zoning ordinance to allow residential use within business properties. Committee representatives Bill Gentry, Hardie Newton, Frank Damico and Supervisors Chairman Eddie Dean expressed support for the ordinance. Madison Mayor Willie Lamar and Town Councilman Charles Carter chose not to express their opinions regarding the ordinance, since they may eventually vote on the issue.

• Discussed some areas included in the near-complete Main Street sidewalk improvement project, which contractor Linco still needs to fix to comply with Virginia Department of Transportation standards, including some curbs, handicap walkways and sections of pavement along Main Street.