Published: May 04, 2008 10:59 pm      

MEDINA: Gwinn Street project on hold

Gwinn Street is possibly one of the worst roads to travel on in the Village of Medina, yet cars use it every day as a gateway to Maple Ridge Road and buses drive on its surface taking children to and from school.

The intention of the village’s previous administration, under the guidance of former Mayor Clayton Ehrenreich, was to have the pitted surface fixed and storm and sanitary sewer lines separated this spring and summer. The project now has been put on hold because of the expense and a desire to keep taxes down.

“The board as a whole decided that the debt load that we would have to carry at this point would be an awful lot on the village,” Toale said. “It was decided that the mayor would look into alternative sources for part or whole of that project.”

The estimated cost of the project is $1.3 million, Toale said. The cost is based on engineering work that had previously been completed by the village.

“It’s unfortunate that we’re not doing it because that has got to be the worst street in Medina to travel,” Toale said, adding that burdening the taxpayers with $1.3 million in debt wasn’t something the board wanted to do.

Mayor Adam Tabelski said the prior administration had been “ willing to commit the village to bearing the cost of a significant amount of debt.” The plan, as far as the current board could tell, he said, was to take out bond financing for the entire amount of the project.

When the project was being planned for this year, there was supposed to be debt coming off the village’s shoulders, but there won’t be any debt relief from previous projects until 2009, making it difficult for the village to stabilize the amount it owed if another project had been taken on. Once some of the loans are paid off, it will be easier to justify borrowing funds, Tabelski said.

“We’ve got two members of the board who live on Gwinn Street so we understand the situation,” Tabelski said. “At the same time we just have to do our best to not place the village in a significant amount of debt for the next several years, it could be as many at 15 (years) depending on the finance package.”

While waiting for the village to be relieved of current debt, Tabelski plans to look into funding options in order to have the Gwinn Street project completed without the taxpayers incurring the total cost of the construction.

“We have to make sure it’s done right, in a way that if there’s grant money out there to bring down the project cost ... we owe it to the taxpayers to explore those options,” Tabelski said.

In the coming weeks, the board will be looking into what grants are available through the state Department of Transportation and also speaking with Stu Brown, the municipality’s grant writer.

“It’s going to be kind of a wait and see (when the project will happen). We’re hoping to get some grants,” said trustee Jim Lustumbo. “I think if it’s not 2008 it’s going to be 2009. There are some loans coming off and then (we can do the project) without having a serious impact on the budget.”

Lustumbo said had the project gone through there would have been a sizeable tax increase and in the end it would have been a “double whammy” for the residents.

The scope of the project encompasses work to all of Gwinn Street and construction consists of resurfacing the roadway, adding curbing and separating the storm and sanitary sewer lines along a portion of Gwinn Street.

“That’s the thing. Obviously the road surface needs attention, but if you’re going to rebuild the road surface you’ve got to do the utilities underneath at the same time if those need to be addressed,” Tabelski said.

According to the mayor, when the road was originally constructed it was never intended to be a “main artery” to Maple Ridge Road, but it has become one of the more traveled routes in the village. The project’s completion would have a significant impact on the entire village and the Medina Central School district, because there are two entrances to the middle and high schools on Gwinn Street. West Oak Orchard Street, which crosses Gwinn Street, houses entrances to the elementary school.

“It’s going to be a very involved project, but ultimately we hope that it will improve access to the school and (Route) 31 because it is an important artery in the village,” Tabelski said. “There’s a window for doing the work because we have to minimize the traffic patterns for the school district. I think we’ll be going after funding this year and next year get the work done.”