A 'SLIPPERY SLOPE' TO HARBOR HISTORY: After 20 years of talk, city OKs boardwalk contract with lingering reservations (with RENDERINGS)

It might not have been quick, or painless for that matter, but after nearly 20 years of discussions, the city will have a unified harbor boardwalk.

“I am truly elated,” Community Redevelopment Agency Chairwoman Sandy Trammell told The Log Tuesday. “This is going to happen.”

While Monday night’s debate saw a few tempers flare and questions over “slippery slopes and bad policy” arise, city leaders agreed to approve a contract with Speegle Construction Inc. for $2.45 million to construct the boardwalk.

For a play-by-play from the meeting, click here.

With a little more than $2 million in CRA funds available to build the boardwalk, the phrase “value engineering” has become synonymous with talks of the boardwalk around the city.

Given the shortfall in financing, the city has more than $10,000 available to them from the completion of the Mountain Drive and Melvin Street projects, about $72,000 from a 2002 bond construction fund and $1.3 million in tax increment funds (TIF) to help foot the bill.

The idea of using TIF funds that could be used on any project in the city unlike CRA funds, which have to be used in their respective areas, didn’t sit well with Councilman Larry Hines. He said it was “bad policy” and motioned that the city stick to CRA funds for the project.

City Manager Maryann Ustick said the TIF funds would only be used as a contingency, not as part of the construction funding.

With the multiple pots of money that could be used to fund this project, Councilman Jim Babgy urged the city to be careful how they swap money back and forth. He said if they are not careful, they might end up moving money to the CRA pot where they cannot retrieve it.

“Once it’s in the CRA pot, then it’s in the CRA pot…,” he said. “I appreciate y’all’s creativity, but we are getting too cute here.”

Another opportunity for savings would be if the city purchased their own materials for the project and supplied them to the contractor. This would save them 6 percent in sales tax on materials.

With a project of this magnitude, it’s only natural that city leaders inquire about the warranty and that’s exactly what they did, somewhat derailing the normal conversation and frustrating a few of the board members.

Councilman Dewey Destin asked Trammell if they could speak to John Pugh, the co-owner of South Bay Ace Hardware, who said he could provide a warranty “over and above” what the city currently has.

Trammell said they should speak to the contractor, not a subcontractor, and Destin ended up making a motion to overrule the chair, which passed 4-3, allowing Pugh to speak.

Pugh told the board that the warranty he could offer was good for 20 years and would entitle them to annual inspections with city staff where recommendation on improvements or maintenance could be made for a period of five years.

“We answered each specific requirement in this document,” Pugh said when questioned about the warranty. “Normally, it’s very hard to get a warranty on a product for pressure treated material.”

Councilman Jim Wood wasn’t happy with the fact that the city was trying to deal directly with a subcontractor and he made it known.

“I’m not sure why we started down this slippery slope of having people sit up here as elected officials trying to direct who might buy products for the city…” he said. “I’m really at a loss for some of the things that have been going on tonight.”

Despite some of the confusion and arguments made by the CRA board, when it came down to the vote, city leaders were all on the same page and pushed the boardwalk contract ahead with a 6-0 vote. Councilman Dewey Destin abstained due to property ownership in the project area.

With the contract approved by the CRA board, Jeff Neidigh of Speegle Construction told city leaders he was ready to go with construction. Based on the city’s easement agreements, construction on the project needs to be significantly completed by April.

“When I say we are going to start January 3, we are going to start throwing things out,” he said. “We are ready to roll.”