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Buena Vista City Council last week approved spending $386,087 on four different special projects in the months ahead.
The expenditures include $10,000 to extend a water line across Magnolia Avenue to help with future development of the East Sixth Street area, $60,000 for a new roof for the Maury River Senior Center, $216,087 for city-wide sidewalk repairs and $100,000 to complete the Town Square project.
The money for these projects is coming out of the city’s general fund that was boosted recently by an infusion of $2 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds. Federal guidelines required that the city obligate these remaining ARPA funds by the end of 2024. This was accomplished by earmarking those funds for the eligible expenditures of salaries and fringe benefits for public safety employees over the previous three fiscal years. Because those expenditures were already made, $2 million was added to the city’s general fund.
A motion to expend $386,087 for the four special projects this year was made by Stanley Coffey and seconded by Ron Cash. The motion passed 6-0.
The Sixth Street water line beneath Magnolia Avenue is going to be installed this spring during paving of Magnolia Avenue by the Virginia Department of Transportation. The roof of the Maury River Senior Center has been leaking badly, City Manager Jason Tyree reported, explaining that it is “in desperate need of replacement.” The city owns the MRSC and is responsible for its maintenance.
Over the next year, Precision Safe Sidewalks is going to conduct precision laser cutting of sidewalks throughout the city to make them level. This safety measure is required by VDOT’s Americans With Disabilities Act guidelines.
Remaining work on the Town Square project includes completing the bathrooms, installing benches, erecting a brick seat wall and commissioning a mural to be painted on the side of the Rockbridge Area Health Center building that will display the still-to-be-selected Town Square name.
Additional work includes building a screen wall to conceal a carport behind the stage that will serve as a donor wall to honor sponsors, signage to recognize granting agencies, a bulletin board to provide space for community flyers and furnishings such as Adirondack chairs, café tables, seating for the plaza and trash receptacles.
Estimated costs for these final elements for Town Square come to $104,562. The $4,562 above the $100,000 Council appropriation is to be covered by donations.
Kristina Ramsey, the city’s director of economic development, reported that $376,190 has been spent to date on the Town Square project -- $200,000 in previous allocations from City Council, $116,221.19 in grants and $47,103 in monetary donations.
Additional contributions of $60,653 in labor and materials have been made, not including the timber hardware or other materials donated to Grigg and Cindy Mullens, who oversaw the timber framers’ work, or the volunteer hours from the timber framers themselves. Also, $17,282 in meal and snack donations were made for the timber framers, who showed up in the spring to build the pavilion and in the fall to build the stage cover.
