The city's Board of Estimates met Monday to further discuss some of the issues on the minds of many Madison residents.
The resolution for the State Street Design Project, which includes a three-phase plan to be implemented immediately, was discussed at length. As Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, explained, by federal law, the board needs to approve and begin implementing a plan by Sept. 30 of this year in order to retain a $900,000 grant from the Federal Highway Administration.
\It's either spend or lose,"" Verveer said, adding that many of the initial changes are cosmetic in nature.
Director of the Madison Department of Planning and Development Mark Ollinger sent a memo to the board stating that the city had no legal responsibility with the Overture Center to continue construction through the 200 block of State Street. Supporters of the plan had previously argued the city must provide the cultural arts center with new sidewalks by the time it is planned to open in 2004.
""It's pennywise and pound foolish to replace sidewalks around this building,"" Verveer said.
The resolution that was proposed for the State Street Design Project includes three phases'an environmental review required by federal law, submission of construction drawings and the design and installation of new bus shelters for 100 and 200 blocks of State, Fairchild, Mifflin and Henry streets.
The Board of Estimates will meet March 25 to finalize its decision on the resolution and the City Council will vote on it April 19.
There was acknowledgment by board members of the discomforts of bus traffic on the otherwise pedestrian area of State Street.
""I don't think we should put $1 to $2 million into making [State Street] an urban mall and then drive buses through it,"" Ald.Warren Onken, District 3, said. ""It's not nice to sit on State Street and drink your $3 coffee with buses driving by.""
The board also discussed the implications of the state budget deficit, and what cuts the city government would be forced to make in order to come to grips with the possible loss of millions of dollars worth of shared revenue funds.
Jim O'Keefe, legislative analyst for the city, advised the board to proceed with caution in regards to the size of the cuts and their timing. O'Keefe said the state Assembly will most likely pass the latest budget revised by the Republican caucus. The Republicans preserved the recommendations of the Joint Finance Committee not to cut shared revenue this year, and simply to scale down the program in future years, instead of eliminating it as the governor had recommended in his original Budget Reform Act. Madison Mayor Sue Bauman back tracked on her idea of cutting 5 percent of each city agencies budget to meet the potential loss of revenue.
""I think the 5 percent across the board is definitely not going to work, smaller agencies are going to receive cuts, some of our sacred cows are going to be leaving us,"" Bauman said.
