A major sidewalk project, along with $50,000 of taxpayer money, is in danger of being lost.
A Mississippi Department of Transportation grant to fund a Transportation Alternative Project and a Safe Routes to School project that would provide sidewalks for safer passage for students along the west side of B.B. King Road from Roosevelt Street to Wiggins Road and down Oak Street from B.B. King to Carver Elementary School, is on hold and could be scrapped for lack of one signature, according to Mayor Steve Rosenthal.
All of the easements along B. B. King Road have been signed except for one, which allegedly involves a family estate that is being contested in the courts. The project cannot move forward until that is in place. Alderman Carver Randle Jr presented the project to the board during his first term in office in 2014, and although he is not seeking re-election, he said he is still passionate about it and wants to see it brought to fruition.Randle said he initially went door-to-door talking to each resident to get their thoughts on the endeavor before bringing it before the other aldermen, who unanimously approved. He said some owners were enthusiastic, others not so much, but eventually they all agreed.
Typically homeowners donate the small portions of land, but if not, the city has to pay fair market value. It took over two years to get the appraisals done and get MDOT approval Randle said. The impediment came after the death of a homeowner when certain family members allegedly contested the will.
Supposedly all of the property owners signed the documents except that one and the family members have been approached on several occasions about the importance of getting the matter expedited. Rosenthal said he gave the documents to the family’s attorney back midyear of 2016 and explained that the city is willing to pay the appraised value, but had to resubmit them again early in 2017.
“We were told that the Judge would just sign it on behalf of the estate,” he said.
Rosenthal said that Randle had put a lot of time and effort into the project, which he said has a total cost of around $750,000. Lake Baird at Gardner Engineering, who is handling the design aspects of the project, said the B.B. King portion is about $500,000 and the Safe Routes portion is $250,000.
“We are currently on our third extension of time and chances of a fourth extension from MDOT is questionable,” Rosenthal said.
Randle also said he is concerned over whether or not they will get another extension and be able to complete the much-needed undertaking.
According to Rosenthal the city already has a total of $50,000 tied up in the project, mainly for land acquisition cost and project design,
“So if the project is not completed, that money will have been wasted,” he said.
Rosenthal said there are two other projects that are on hold because of this delay, one planned for the corner of Second and Hannah/Depot streets and a new sidewalk along Main Street in front of Betty’s place plus the project for the addition at the B. B. King Museum.
