Remember when the City said they had to pull the Beacon's improvements money and send it to Moonlight Beach for the Moonlight Beach project? They said we had to hurry and spend the millions in state grant money or loose it?
Remember when the council said there were no financial difficulties for the city and the city had "balanced" its budget and always hit its revenue projections?
There are going to be more conversations like this:
The genesis of our city's position goes back years.
The city can't build Beacons improvements and now they are on the edge of not being able to build the Moonlight Beach improvements. The general public wouldn't know this except a few things forced this forward.
Maybe it is time for all multimillion dollar projects to have regular and brief project update reports posted to the city website. Did you know that after 10 years the city has only a single progress report for the Hall park? They don't give their contractors due dates or make make them submit progress reports. Not good and not best practices for a well run city.
The city gets to keep $2 million if they can come up with a half million dollars.
Time for better financial planning and less happy talk, for the sake of looking good. It is time for those hard looks at the city's expenditures that candidate Gaspar promised. It is not really that hard to have found the half million dollars.
Some Beacons Upgrade History
In 2006 the LB reports the Beacons plan includes a project killing seawall.
In 2010, City's consultant states the City surprised to discover the seawall was a project killer.
I didn't realize that the grant for Beacons went to Moonlight, but I feel that's just as well. I don't favor a seawall, bathrooms and a shower at Beacons!
ReplyDeleteHowever, it seems obvious to all who are following what our city officials are doing, that they DO NOT put BEST PRACTICES into effect. I feel the idea of progress reports being posted on the City's web page is excellent, thank you!
This appears to be another example of how the Hall Property park has sucked the oxygen out of City Hall. You'd think that a long-overdue and long-planned capital improvement project at Moonlight Beach--one of the city's prime economic drivers--would be a top funding priority, especially considering that state grant money is going to pay for more than three quarters of the costs.
ReplyDeleteBut if you look at the SUMMARY OF PARKS AND BEACHES PROJECTS table in the most recent Capital Improvement/Work Project Program and Financial Guide on the city website, you'll see that the Moonlight Beach improvements aren't even listed. Nor is there a page dedicated to the project. No wonder there is still a budget shortfall for this project: the council might not even know it's on their list of priorities.
Let's hope that the council can get this project out for bid, find the additional funds that might be necessary, and get a contract signed before the state pulls the grant money in June.