LAKEPORT — Pavement has replaced dirt in the alley between Second and Third streets parallel to Main Street in downtown Lakeport. The city redevelopment project cost the city $61,129.23, a price tag the city council did not approve lightly.
The council approved the amount Tuesday in a 3-2 vote, with councilmen Jim Irwin and Ron Bertsch in dissent. The amount paid for work that was completed Oct. 1, according to Lakeport City Engineer Scott Harter. The alley improvement was the largest of three changes the council approved to the city”s contract with FEDCO Construction of Santa Rosa for redevelopment projects.
“The contract days were directly related to the work that was done. The contract did not anticipate doing the alleyway,” Harter said.
The city hired FEDCO to complete redevelopment improvements for Third Street and the parking lot next to City Hall. Construction on Third Street and the City Hall parking lot began in July. In a report to the council, Harter wrote that the additional $61,000-plus cost would add five workdays to the contract.
“I didn”t want the job to expand, even though we did see a little bit of savings because the bids came in under what we anticipated. Nothing against paving the alley, but it was not a priority of mine for redevelopment money,” Irwin said.
Harter said the cost covered the time FEDCO”s workers put in plus the cost of materials, including a gravel that meets specifications that make it suitable as a base for a road, and materials needed for paving.
Lakeport Mayor Buzz Bruns voted to approve the cost, and said, “That”s what redevelopment is for.”
Bruns said businesses owners whose buildings are serviced by the alley were contacted about contributing to the project, but chose not to participate. Gerry Sloper, owner of Loeb”s Ink Spot on Third Street, said she has lost more than half of her business since last year at this time. She said the construction process periodically choked off all but foot traffic from her regular customers.
“They told me they would not shut down Second Street and Third Street at same time, and it”s been happening off and on throughout the whole three months,” Sloper said.
Lakeport Regional Chamber of Commerce CEO Melissa Fulton called the added expense “money well spent,” and said the paved alleyway improves the city”s image to tourists who visit City Hall.
“Here, people want community improvement, and community improvement comes with a price. There is never a good time for construction in a business area,” Fulton said.
The city council, sitting as the Lakeport Redevelopment Board of Directors, gave the thumbs-up to the alley improvement project in September.
Contact Tiffany Revelle at trevelle@record-bee.com, or call her directly at 263-5636 ext. 37.
