How are the road repairs coming along in Lake Worth? Can anyone on the Bond Committee tell us? Anyone from City Hall want to be precise? How much have we spent so far? Are we on track? We haven't had a report in quite some time.
Yesterday, I noticed that Boutwell Road was closed again. How many years has it been now?
One thing that we do know, we voted on something for which we didn't know the true cost. Even the City Manager couldn't tell us. And it wasn't on the ballot language.
In Texas they are going to pass The Taxpayer's Right to Know Act that requires local entities to provide voters who go to the polls in bond elections with precise information on exactly how much the bond you are voting on will actually cost the local jurisdiction.
Dan Patrick, Lt. Governor of Texas said, "since taxpayers are the ones who will be paying for the bond, you have a right to know. Local entities are also required to let you know how much debt they are already carrying. Voters should always have this kind of transparency because they are footing the bill."
But for some reason, Lake Worth voters didn't demand this, didn't care. I asked and received the answer, "I don't know." All they knew was that the bond was for $40 million and the potholes would be fixed. If you were buying a car and financing it, you would never be so casual. Voters overwhelmingly passed the bond measure by 69%.
10 comments:
I was wondering about this myself. haven't seen any activity in my neck of the woods
Boutwell has been closed for just about exactly 1 year. The sign says it will be closed until August. I think they are on schedule, or maybe a bit ahead of schedule. I certainly miss it, but what I saw looks good.
Their plan makes no sense. Major streets don't get resurfaced and they complete streets around them. You would think if they have the equipment there it all gets done at once.
@9:09...true--closed for a year...it seems longer. Brian Shields said last year that it should be done in May or June 2019.
I don't think it's the same contract. Hardrives is doing Boutwell, and I haven't seen any evidence that Hardrives is working inside the city Streets
As an ex member of the bond board I can tell you that some members questioned the huge gap between ESTIMATED and ACTUAL road costs that were happening. Those members were sort of patted on the head by "staff" and told not to worry. "Jobs are always over bid in case something unforeseen happens".That something would have to be earthquakes during a Tidal wave while the whole city caught on fire for the discrepancy to make any sense.Reminds me of when J.Kroll stood in front of the Commission and told them a repair to Bryant Park would cost 250,000. City manager Stanton fixed the problem for 5,000. Was J.K. saving up for an employee Pizza party? Work is happening ahead of schedule,and a lot of money to repair more streets not on the original plan should happen. Oh,P.S. if the guys tell your neighborhood that they can't afford the kind of traffic calming you want (within reason of course),tell them to blow it out their butts.
Sounds like a personal problem 2:47.
The city still looks like hell, still so many streets are so bad, especially most east west streets, they fixed some, but not enough to make a real difference driving through the city. 4th Ave N from Dixie to Federal is a huge mess. North D Street north of 10th Ave is all mostly a huge mess all the way to Worthmore, there are a lot of major problems still, not seeing the city and people are getting their monies worth. Sad!
Boutwell closings are a traffic disaster and the time taken to do it makes no sense. I see the barriers but I see no work. A 5 minute trip to Wal-Mart is an ordeal. Warehouses are empty. A scam.
If you take 10th Avenue N it might take one more minute. Actually, they've done a lot of work, and it's not nearly as scary as it used to be.
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