Nicholasville Streets Superintendent Gary Goldey, left, and CDP Engineering's Josh Karrick addressed several questions for a group of business owners and Nicholasville residents Monday night. (Photo by Mike Moore / March 21, 2011) |
Several downtown business owners and residents vented over the downtown streetscape project during a public meeting Monday night at the Euro Wine Bar on Main Street.
Josh Karrick, with the Lexington-based CDP Engineering, said the discovery of a faulty culvert near Farmers Bank at the intersection of Oak and Walnut streets caused some delays because the state required that it be repaired.
“Structurally, it had outlived its life cycle,” Karrick said.
Nicholasville resident Gene Hall asked why devices such as cameras weren’t used to take a look at culverts before work began.
Nicholasville Streets Superintendent Gary Goldey said the discovery of the faulty culvert involved the road, and it wasn’t in the original scope of the project.
“We knew that we were going to replace the sidewalks,” Goldey said. “The driving surface itself was not part of the project; it was never part of the project.”
Goldey said once the discovery was made, it became a part of the project because the state required it to be repaired.
“Once that was pointed out, they gave us additional funding to make it workable and fix it,” Goldey said.
Danny Barnes, who co-owns The Alternative Jewelry Shop, located at 118 1/2 N. Main St., asked Karrick why the work went from a block-by-block project to tearing up the entire east side of the street.
“We started off looking at being able to do one block at a time,” Karrick said. “The scope of the utility work has led to the need to open up multiple areas in order to keep that going forward in an efficient manner for the contractor.”
In January, Barnes and his wife, Libby, alleged that their building had been damaged by the construction.
The meeting was filled with finger-pointing from various business owners, and David West with Betts and West Funeral Home took a moment to ease tensions.
“I commend you on having this meeting, because you knew that fire was going to come at you,” he said.
West’s concern was the narrowing of Main Street.
“Our Main Street is going to be narrower by 4 feet in driving space,” he said. “It’s still going to be within the parameters set by the state for 8-foot parking spaces and two 11-foot driving lanes. (But) I just don’t think it’s a good idea to narrow Main Street by 4 feet.”
Karrick said public meetings leading up to the project indicated a desire by the majority of the public for wider sidewalks.
“The concepts that came out of that was to provide safe, walkable areas for pedestrians and outdoor cafés, urban life in downtown Nicholasville,” Karrick said. “The goal was to provide an area for pedestrians.”
Karen Pedigo, owner of The Corner House Bed and Breakfast, located at 228 Richmond Ave., said the project, coupled with the many vacant store fronts along Main Street, is making Nicholasville the butt of many jokes by her customers.
“Unfortunately this (project) started the week before the World Equestrian Games, so I want to let you know the impact it’s having on all of us,” she said. “I used to be able to send all my guests to all the restaurants, and that was a great thing with this kind of weather. But now, I have people that are here for business, and it used to be the people were going to bring the family for a vacation or a drive through, but now they are saying, ‘What’s wrong with your town? You all must be about the worst city in the state because everything is closed up, and it all looks horrible.’”
Pedigo said the longer the project takes, the more negative impact it will have on Nicholasville.
Nicholasville attorney Bruce Smith wondered about possible impact of his building, locally known as the old Walker Hotel, which sits on the corner of Main and Chestnut streets.
“What measures is the contractor going to take?” he asked. “I’m pretty anxious about the demolition and damage to my building.”
Karrick and Goldey told him that they would have the contractor and engineer meet with Smith to answer any questions he may have.
Gerald Deeken, owner of the Nicholasville Café, located at 111 N. Main St., also vented over the length of the project, claiming that it will go well over the 180 days.
“We’re six months into the project, and it should have been done last week, according to the original contract,” he said.
Karrick and Goldey pointed out that the 180 days are not calendar days, but work days and the contract allows for extensions for situations such as weather and other things beyond the contractor’s control.
Deeken then tried to shift gears to talk about the project going over its budget, but Karrick quickly derailed that train of thought, saying that the engineers and contractor are working within the budget and plan to keep everything within budget.
Toward the end of the meeting, Deeken said the project is forcing many businesses, including Main & Maple Coffee House & Café to close, but city commissioner Doug Blackford said that wasn’t the sole reason.
“I just feel like another variable is the economy,” he said. “It was known that some of these businesses were struggling before they even broke ground.”
The Journal was unable to reach the owners of Main & Maple by press time Wednesday. According to its website, the café closed March 18.
