(Publisher’s note: I was not able to make the City Council meeting Monday night so this is a follow up story.)
The Chelsea City Council voted down a request by the Chelsea Downtown Development Authority (DDA) for a $995,000 bond resolution by a 5-2 vote Monday night, Jan. 6, following an almost one hour discussion during which they asked a number of questions.
Mayor Jason Lindauer and Council Member Frank Hammer were the two yes votes.
Several city council members said they wanted to see was more detailed information and financial breakdowns for the three projects, which the DDA hopes to get underway this spring.
So, here’s the background on the three projects that the DDA wants to undertake to improve portions of the downtown.
Almost half of the requested $995,000 bond was earmarked for the Palmer parking lot, which the DDA, with the input from a citizen’s committee, would like to develop into a community gathering place, which would include a pavilion building with bathrooms, an area for the city’s two farmers’ markets and other festivals, events and concerts. The estimated cost of the first of three phases for the space is $500,000-$600,000.
The second project includes improvements to Jackson Street and the Longworth alley, which include demolition of the Livery building, placing area utilities underground, cleaning up and enhancing the alley beside the First Congregational Church, which runs from East Middle Street to Jackson Street and additional parking spaces.
The Congregational church planned to make handicapped access and other improvements this fall but after meeting with the DDA and learning about the plans for improvements in the area, they agreed to hold off making those enhancements until the proposed DDA projects got underway in the spring.
This about $250,000 downtown improvement project is ready to go to bid and the DDA hopes to get it started this spring.
The third planned project is for about $50,000-$75,000 to add stamped sidewalks at several additional intersections. They would match the ones installed last year in several key intersections downtown. The new stamped intersections would be placed in several of the city’s busiest pedestrian crossings at the intersection of Main and Middle streets and Main, Park and South streets.
The DDA put all three projects together in one bond request to save about $25,000 in bond fees, but with the City Council’s denial Monday night, it’s expected that at the DDA board’s meeting on Thursday, Jan. 16, the board will discuss a revised bond amount request to put before the City Council for consideration.
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