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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 8, 1980)
Page 8 THE BATTALION MONDAY, DECEMBER 8, 1980 Local Bryan officials trying to cope with paving problem Potential loss of revenue-sharing funds has officials worried about future By MARY ANN HINNANT Battalion Reporter While driving down a section of Pierce Street in Bryan, it’s difficult to avoid the many holes and bumps in the road which could be used as a testing ground for tire wear. Poor drainage increases the chances for getting stuck after a rain and cars parked on both sides of the narrow street allow only enough room for one car to pass. This section of Pierce Street, like many other streets in Bryan, has no concrete topping or curb and gutter for drainage purposes. Driving down an unpaved street is one thing, living on one is another. Nellie Garrett lives only two blocks from Pierce Street on Legion Court which is also unpaved. “Tve been living in this house for about 12 years,” she said, “and the street gets messier every time it rains. I don’t even like to cross the street.” Loretta Navarro lives several miles from Pierce and Legion Court on Bluegrass Street, which is also unpaved. g Linda Ragsdale-Esthetician ® • Make-up application Manicure • Pedicure • Eyelash/brow dye • Massage “Not only is the road messy when it rains, but it gets dry and dusty during the summer and the dirt blows into the house,” she said. “If they would just come and grade it every once in a while, that would be a big help.” These streets, like many others in the same areas, are all unpaved and are all located in the lower-income neighborhoods of Bryan. Presently, there are about 30 miles of unpaved streets in Bryan. But the number used to be higher. According to Bryan Public Works Director Jack Cornish, in 1970 there were 38 miles of unpaved streets in Bryan, and the majority of these were in low-income neighborhoods. solve as quickly as possible,” said Au drey Craften, director of the CDP. “But it isn’t always that easy.” A Citizens Advisory Committee compiles a list of those streets which need to be paved in the low-income “/Ve been living in this house for about 12 years, and the street gets mes sier every time it rains. I don't even like to cross the street. ” Wax Hair Removal Upper Up • Vi leg Eyebrow • Entire leg Sldeburu • Chin Bikini line • Under Arm 3710 E. 29th St. "Holiday Special" Manl a U „d $ 20 00 Pedicure Reg. $24.50 GOOD UNTIL DEC. 19, 1980 846-3794 Located inside the Figure Salon. Call for appointment With the beginning of the Com munity Development Program in Bryan in 1975, the streets in the low- income neighborhoods which had been neglected were to undergo some facelifting. Through the use of federally funded money, this prog ram was to improve the conditions of the low-income neighborhoods. Pro jects were started, such as park de velopment, sidewalk construction, fire hydrants for safety precautions and street improvement and repair. Over 50 percent of the allocated money was to be spent on the paving of streets in these designated areas. The first major street construction project began in 1975 in the Castle Heights area in north Bryan, where virtually no paved roads existed. Af ter two years and approximately $330,000, the street construction in Castle Heights has been completed. “That was a severe problem area and one which we though we should areas. The 15-member committee is selected by the Bryan City Council and the majority of these members live in the low-income areas. The Advisory Committee selects the streets to he paved by using a basic set of guidelines which were set up by Craften, City Engineer Jay Page and Street Superintendant Vince Nuche. Unpaved streets are rated on a numeric scale based upon factors such as cost for paving the street, roughness of the street, if the street is a connector (joining two paved streets), or a collector (collecting traffic from a residential area and car rying it to a main artery). After the committee has selected the streets to be paved, the city council has the final say and may either approve or reject any of the committee’s proposed streets. “This can take a couple of weeks or a couple of months, depending on how quickly the Advisory Commit- The birds, animals & flowers are dying to tell us... “Give a hoot, don’t pollute!’ tee can make a list a streets which need to be paved,” Craften said. Craften said there is also the prob lem of sometimes acquisitioning land in order for the street to be paved. “We have to buy land from the property owners in order to widen the street and pave it,” she said. “There is often the problem of find ing the legal owner of the land. This is the reason that some streets which need paving are often put off. ” The paving of the streets finally gets underway after the council has approved the list and the CDP hires a contractor for the street construc tion. “When the funds are available, we do as much as we can,” Craften said, "but paving a street is very expen sive.’ According to City Engineer Jay Page, the cost for paving one foot of street in 1974 was about $45. Now the cost per foot is anywhere from $60 to $80. Since the beginning of the CDP in 1975, $1.3 million has been spent to pave 6.6 miles of street, leaving 31.4 miles of unpaved streets. However, not all of these unpaved streets are in low-income areas in Bryan. Money allocated to the city through bond elections was desig nated for general street repair and maintenance, with some money to go to the paving of those streets which had become major thorough fares. A bond election in 1970 provided the city money to pave six streets in 1972 including Briarcrest Dr. and Villa Maria which were anticipated to become major thoroughfares. This bond election also provided money for petition paving in which the residents of the street which has been petitioned to be paved must incur approximately two-thirds of the cost of paving the street. The city pays for the remaining one-third. Under the petition paving prog ram, 51 per cent of the residents liv ing on the street must sign a petition for the street to be paved. If the peti tion is accepted by the city, even those residents who did not sign the petition must pay. Other than the money from bond elections, petition paving is also funded by tbe revenue sharing prog ram. Federally funded money by the Department of the Treasury is given to the city on the basis of the popula tion and may be used for any legal city services. In 1971 and 1972, 24 streets were paved through petition paving using the funds from the 1970 bond eleci- tion. In 1976 half as many street had been paved by petition, the reason By E I n' 5 ignored by streets that weren't inli f income areas were going tot,; wait for more city fundslefol would be paved. L A proposed bond issue, ® 11 eluded a $5.1 million proposil 62 '* Wl ^‘ ' was to be allocated for stretlf®;^' 5 ^ asc and maintenance, was sell tion on July 9, 1977. Issue*jt^ 1 ' iec . Bryan Eagle included an eiplaB* ons . ^ * of each of the nine proposal* c(,min<K *' t y specific purpose of eadt juj® ie .:. utl Seven meetings were held! an ° selling out the city to inform thepi vert < at a each proposal. Alowvotertirjffi® ra( J! lt the election, which was bd!*r Cl months after the general tlifir\ s t() was cited as a possible reasor,:- 1 ' c laerc million proposal was rejects! i!? I 7’ sai “ch Bun “There is often the prob lem of {hiding the legal owner of the land. This is the reason that some streets which need pav ing are often put off. ” being the depletion of the bond money. Between 1974 and 1977, 36 streets had been paved by petition the through the use of the revenue shar ing funds. With the beginning of the CDP, unpaved streets in low-inconu neighborhoods were scheduled to be paved with federal funds, but the According to Cornish, thtlBiinaditi Works Department in BrpiH'Howev began to concentrate theirr rarely inter ward rnaintencnce, with lilt delivery. planned at all. Wes out 1 ffirycontr “There wasn’t the moneilBl the 1 the streets so we had to Bureau, keeping them in good coniiiWiontrae doing general repair work, oats and s said. Hhels. C< Another bond election,ricty held in April of 1980, passsiM an( j p, million proposal for street reJfr[ 1f , f , ntri maintenance with prioritiesiM m p| p a bond money to be allocatedij^, paving streets such as 29thSlW uates r South College and a portiosiijL r( , sens j Maria, with the remainder3W om j c money to go toward petitioupjLjdity Res Although there is ne*Whosesh money for paving thee L iany f at Bryan, city officials arc afrai:K s an[ ] t | with the recent presiden: thegrowin; tion, the funds from the rcWnal’c fe sharing program will be const reduced if not altogethcrelii sons for band foi nal tensi STORAGE I U - LOCK - IT | 10 x 20 - $25 ■ 693-2339 Itittsic 'fioTWwftF ^2 is at HAPPY COTTAGE J GIFT SHOPPE * Wa ter important to town-namers Ilhere ; ithe fiitui nson, c |gil Inc. fthe futi timercial by big By MARY ANNE SNOWDEN Battalion Reporter [Merrill I * serving the finest libations with salads, sandwiches, steaks and jazz plus... monday night football ❖ plate lunch specials monday - Friday ❖ happy hour 4:30-6:30 mon.-fri. Coupons void after Nov. 30 913 harvey road in woodstone center (over 850 Selections) 809 E. 29th l Ct Storage Space FOR RENT Secure • Well Lighted Varioui. Sizes • Behind U-RENT-M in College Station The Storage Station 693-0S51 Well, seems like ol’ Joe Sixpack and his fiancee Whihna WineM want to start a distillery in Texas, but they aren’t sure where Sixpack, reading the November newsletter from the Texas lUt , Resources institute — located at Texas A&M University —saidlJ f letter claimed the importance of water to the history of the stalei fiffair. the names that Texans have given their towns. , Names which describe the local water situation, such as Sour Lai ” Shallowwater, Redwater and Oyster Creek sounded suspicious®iar/fei Christmas Sale December 9 thru 12 § Sixpack and his bride-to-be. But then there were more proiwf sounding names like Long Lake, Big Lake, Blue Lake, Silver lit Clear Lake and Little River. Winebottle noted towns with many springs and wells. Sure ‘nuf, if the town founders were luckless to be lakcless, Ik was bound to he a spring or a well around; hence Roaring Spite Dripping Springs, Big Spring, Mineral Wells, Springtown, Springs, Sulphur Springs and Walnut Springs. Winebottle sa last one should be a wonder to see. afes n cause i\ to a wi nomic, MSG Lobby Flower arrangements, door ornaments and much more to get you in the spirit of Christmas! — sponsored by Student Chapter — of American Institute of Floral Designers ir servic Sixpack said he doubted if he’d ever pop a top in Swamp CilyiBare usu Liverpool, but added he was sure the folks residin there wereitiBiake me ;The co The newsletter revealed 41 Texas towns named after sprif winated another 37 having “lake” in their names; and 17 towns named!:^panics creeks, rivers or brooks. I > Con The water resources institute has learned that even ifatownisu*: ^yfus, B named after a water source or a water description, there is afi Ve must chance that the street the Sixpacks will end up living on is, jpeedure But they haven’t quite made up their minds where their own spri : toimodity of brew will be sprung yet. rh* Stf Stf »|> *(1* *1/* vL* «>L» •A* sSa- vL* •‘A* vL® •JL* «£/ yf 0 T % ^F**! 1 * •T* •T* 0 T* irjs ft * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * “TAOS” SKI VACATION SPECIAL 10% Off per day on all rentals and ski repairs with coupon. Featuring: • 250 pair of new skis with Salomon step-in bindings and ski brakes • Irak Cross Country ski rentals • Ski Clothing Rentals & Sales • Ski Tuning done with a Mohn Ski Maintenance machine. RENTAL RESERVATIONS ACCEPTED! 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