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Tuesday, February 9, 2010 |
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Destination Seguin projects taking shape
Published March 11, 2007
SEGUIN — Various projects that Seguin voters approved in a $14.5 million, May 2006 Destination Seguin bond election are well under way throughout the city, Mayor Betty Ann Matthies reported last week.
“Some things are already in progress,” Matthies said. “Work on Guadalupe Street is moving right along, part of Destination Seguin was to extend construction as far as New Braunfels street, which will be a continuation of the present project.”
City Manager Douglas Faseler said the Destination Seguin Committee worked out a list of project priorities in summer 2006 after Seguin citizens voted by an overwhelming margin to dress up Seguin with street and park improvements.
“Our No. 1 priority was Guadalupe Street between Kingsbury and New Braunfels streets, Faseler said. “There are parts of the construction that people haven’t seen yet. We have purchased some underground drainage boxes for that project, and we’ve ordered all of the electrical material to replace the overhead power lines onto new steel poles.”
Faseler said the $2.5 million slated for Guadalupe Street includes a change order for construction north of Kingsbury Street.
“Two weeks from now we’ll have an update meeting with the construction company,” he said.
District 2 Councilwoman JoAnn Sutherland said Guadalupe Street figures prominently in her life in Seguin, as her grandfather lived on it. Her district lies along the eastern edge of the street. Guadalupe Street was Proposition No. 6 on the bond election ballot. Voters approved construction of roadway, sidewalks and drainage, including utility improvements and any necessary purchase of land for the project.
“I am very satisfied with the progress. We seem to be on schedule,” Sutherland said. “Guadalupe Street has been a project we wanted for 30 years, it was in very bad condition. When you drove north on Guadalupe Street, you had to drive on the left side to avoid the potholes.”
Other items on the ballot were $600,000 for a new park on the west side of the city, including playground equipment, bathrooms, parking space and improvements to a section of Walnut Branch; an issuance of $800,000 for Starcke Park improvements including a boat ramp and renovations of the Little League Complex, which included new lights and bleachers that have been installed; $500,000 for renovations to Central Park, including a bandstand/gazebo and restoration of the park’s fountain; $2 million for repairs to the Seguin Guadalupe Coliseum and fairground facilities; $250,000 for improvements to the hydroelectric plant; and $4.5 million for drainage improvements and land purchase for the Walnut Branch Linear Park project.
Faseler said the public boat ramp and the hydroelectric plant improvement bonds have not been sold yet, as the projects are low on the priority list.
The city is currently negotiating with the Carter Burgess engineering firm for a master plan for improvements along the 2.5-mile length of Walnut Branch.
“We met with them last week to discuss the scope of the proposal,” said Jacquelyn Thomas, senior project manager and hydraulics engineer for Carter Burgess. “We met with the city last Thursday [March 1] and provided them with a proposal, and they are reviewing it right now.”
Nancy Masterson, a member of the Walnut Branch Linear Park committee, said the Carter Burgess proposal is extensive, but will be worth the money.
“It’s a large contract, but I think they are a top-notch firm and that we will get our money’s worth from investing in an extensive plan like the one they are proposing. I think it’s worth every penny.”
“We have made an offer on the property on San Antonio Street [the 48-acre Hoermann tract for a west side park], but we’re not in negotiation yet, we’ve made an offer,” said Matthies. “We are in negotiations with landowners for property to build a retention pond at the headwaters of Walnut Branch. But we’ve not come to an agreement yet.”
Faseler said handicapped accessible doors have been installed in the entryway to the coliseum, and that the city would consider bids at a March 20 council meeting for a new sign and marquee with an electronic message board for the coliseum.
He said the city has not issued bonds yet for the entire $14.5 million, and would not do so until probably in 2008.
The hydroelectric plant, for instance, is a low priority project because it currently has no tenant.
“That work won’t be done unless we have a user for the property, it has not been used since the early 1990s,” Faseler said. “We’re doing these other projects first. We tried to look at what the logical steps were to prioritize those projects.”
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