Cloverdale reviews estimates for Stardust Road project

CLOVERDALE -- The Cloverdale Town Council reviewed cost estimates for the Stardust Road project, for which Cloverdale recently received the Community Crossings Grant in the amount of $984,160.

“I would congratulate the town on being awarded the grant,” Clint Roos of Midwestern Engineer said. “That was a big investment in the community. And that’s a lot of commitment there.”

Roos showed the council cost estimates for the project, which he said were the same as those presented in July. Total cost for the project currently sits at about $2.5 million, with $1.9 million going toward construction and the rest for non-construction costs like engineering fees, land acquisition and utility reimbursement.

The town, Roos said, is responsible for matching the grant amount at $948,160 and paying the non-construction costs, which he said may be lower than originally estimated after the project goes to design. He also said that it is possible property owners will donate their land as “it’s quite an asset to the property owners.”

In answer to a question from Bennington, Roos said that “we’ve not had any conversations” about the railroad crossing, but “that’ll be the next step” and that the asphalt millings could be recycled. Clerk-Treasurer Galloway added that they would most likely be used for alleys.

Although the project will seek to coordinate with C-Bar-C, Roos estimated that the plans will be complete by the end of this year, construction will begin next spring and the entire project be complete by the end of 2017. Clerk-Treasurer Galloway added that the funds will be available in November and that the town must use them by the end of 2017.

In answer to a question from Monnett, Clerk-Treasurer Galloway said that the town has hired Tom Pittman, a financial lawyer, to advise the town on sourcing the nearly $1 million in required matching funds. He has advised that the town “turn over all the roads” to the Redevelopment Commission, which will then get a bond in the required amount and lease the roads to the town until the bond is paid off.

The funds to pay off the bond are expected to come from TIF (tax increment financing).

“What we’re expecting is these roads are going to come; that’s going to bring more businesses in,” Clerk-Treasurer Galloway said. “When they build a new building we capture the TIF. That TIF bond payments will pay for the road.”

She said the town could not get its own bond due to its spending limit.

“It’s basically what they did when we bought the Town Hall,” Clerk-Treasurer Galloway said. “They had a Town Hall Authority, three people, and they loaned the money to us. Those three people that owned this building until we got the building paid off.”

Earlier in the meeting, President Coweta appointed herself and Larry Fidler to the Redevelopment Authority that will be responsible for leasing the roads until the bond is paid off. She is expected to appoint a third member in the near future.

The council is set to approve Roos’s contract next month.

In other developments:

-- Claims: The council approved total claims at $359,909.90, an increase of $157,335 from last month and of $50,338.20 from the year’s average.

-- Ordinance 2016-10: The council approved Ordinance 2016-10 “Ordinance Appropriation Reduction from MVH for $43,000.”

“Wayne wanted a small excavator this year,” Clerk-Treasurer Galloway said, “and there’s no way that we can afford to do that, so I told the DLGF that if I could get an ordinance that says that we won’t use that money this year and keep it for next year then we’d have enough to do that (next year).”

-- Ordinance 2016-13: The council was introduced to Ordinance 2016-13 “Ordinance Establishing a Capital Asset Policy.”

“We’re doing inventory through the town,” Clerk-Treasurer Galloway said, “and all of our capital assets, anything $5,000 or over, needs to be counted as a capital asset. The only thing that we had in our files was Resolution 2000-2. It should never be a resolution; it should always be an ordinance.”

-- Resolution 2016-10: The council approved Resolution 2016-10 “Amending Resolution 2016-1 Approval Reimbursement of the Wastewater Utilty from Redevelopment.”

“This one here is for the manhole up on Beagle Club Road,” Town Manager Galloway said. “I came to you in April’s meeting and asked you for extra funds because we had to hire an engineer to get that manhole put in.”

-- Town Workshop: Clerk-Treasurer Galloway announced that there will be a public workshop Sept. 21 at 7 p.m. in the Town Hall “to pave our way to year 2020.” Residents can make suggestions on how to improve Cloverdale.

-- UMAC: The council approved extending UMAC’s contract another two years at $3,605 per month.

-- UV system: Town Manager Wayne Galloway reported that one new UV system used to treat water for E. coli has been priced and two more in are in-progress.

The next Cloverdale Town Council meeting is set for Oct. 11 at 7 p.m. in the Town Hall.