|
Lynn Lane pathway evolving into community connector |
|
Wednesday, 24 June 2009 |
By KELLY DANIELS
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Delays have led to immediate changes in the Lynn Lane multi-use path project, which is now being called a community connector.
Kevin Stafford of Neel Schaffer Engineering, the firm surveying the path, said that the Mississippi Department of Transportation has a Sept. 30 deadline for the survey, making it virtually impossible to jump through hoops for the hoped-for plans to be ready in time.
The original plan was to follow Lynn Lane from McKee Park to South Montgomery Street and then to Locksley Way and onto Blackjack Road.
The revised plan calls for building a 9,000-foot lane connecting McKee Park to Lynn Lane and the Starkville Sportsplex and running around the perimeter of both parks.
Stafford said that future phases of the master Lynn Lane plan will continue to include connectivity to Mississippi State University.
MDOT is providing $1.2 million for the project contingent upon the city’s $300,000 match.
Ward 3 Alderman P.C. McLaurin expressed regret that the city must “fork up” that amount for a loop around the parks.
“We’re just circling parks,” he said. “There’s no Point A to Point B.”
Ward 7 Alderwoman Janette Self shook her head in agreement, calling the new plan a “bridge going nowhere.”
Ron Cossman, a member of Starkville in Motion who conceptualized the Lynn Lane project, said that the new plan still meets some of his original objectives — connecting the neighborhoods to the parks, connecting parks to one another and promoting pedestrian safety.
Cossman attributed delays taking up a span of three years to MDOT’s slowness of viewing the plans, the city’s occasional slowness of response and a change in the grant plan.
“They’ve determined that the city will have to do a cultural review,” Cossman said, explaining that interviews of all Indian nations would have to be conducted due to the possibility of historical Indian artifacts located under the proposed sites.
With Tuesday’s proposed phase, however, the city will not have to deal with encroachment issues and legal advertisements taking over a span of 60 days.
If the city fails to meet the deadline, it loses MDOT’s $1.2 million check.
In other news about parks, the controversial proposal of making the Parks and Recreation Commission an advisory board resurfaced a third time Tuesday — this time introduced by Ward 6 Alderman and Vice Mayor Roy Á. Perkins, who would not comment on the matter after the Board of Aldermen decided to take it under advisement until the next meeting.
Parks Commission member Dorothy Isaac, however, shared her thoughts on the matter during the board’s citizen comment period, and asked that the matter be taken up by the next administration.
“Come to the Parks Commission and talk to us,” she said.
Appointments and reappointments
Pat Bryan, who represents Ward 5 on the Planning and Zoning Commission, was nudged off the table with the appointment of Robbie Coblentz.
Ward 5 Alderman Matt Cox, who would be expected to make a recommendation, was absent from the meeting.
McLaurin made a failed motion to reappoint Bryan before Ward 2 Alderman Rodney Lincoln made a motion to appoint Coblentz, receiving a second from Davis.
With separate votes, the board appointed Jason Walker to serve on the Planning and Zoning Commission and reappointed current members Jerry Emison and Dora Herring, who is the commission chair.
Frank Chiles was reappointed to the Golden Triangle Regional Airport Authority, and Pete Melby was reappointed to the Parks Commission.
Editor’s note: More actions of the Board of Aldermen will be reported in Thursday’s edition of the Starkville Daily News.
|
|
Last Updated ( Thursday, 25 June 2009 )
|
