Council considers abandoned street
Council wants legal recommendations before making decision
BY GLORIA JENNINGS

What to do about abandonment of a city street is still undecided.

The Rusk City Council met Monday evening for a public hearing concerning the abandonment of a portion of Golfcrest Drive.

Following the hearing the council took no action on the street abandonment. The issue will be decided after attorneys have met and are ready to make a recommendation to the council.

Mike Kessler, attorney with the Eldridge Moak law firm in Jacksonville, attended the meeting on behalf of John Ament. Mr. Ament is the attorney for Joanne Hart, who lives at the end of the street. Also attending were Larry Sinclair, city attorney; and Jan Pate, owner of property adjacent to the street.

Mr. Pate pledged his support to do whatever is necessary to correct his portion of the damage. However, he told the council, his resources are limited.

He said, "I am sorry about the problem. There is a problem and I will accept full responsibility for my part of the problem and fix it with the resources that I have. I don't think that this problem was foreseen when Mrs. Hart bought her property and I bought mine. I hate to see you abandon the street," he said.

"We have had a couple of engineers look at the street. They said it would cost $30,000 to begin their work. The last price we got for the job was $200,000," Councilman Kris Morgan said.

"This probably would not have happened if you (Mr. Pate) had not cut the hill," Mrs. Hart said.

Mr. Pate said he had offered to bring his equipment to the site and haul in dirt. "But the engineers told me not to do that, don't do anything," Mr. Pate said.

Mrs. Hart said, "I will not be able to get in and out of my house if something is not done."

"We don't want to do this to you but how will the other taxpayers feel?" Mr. Morgan asked.

"Are you going to start abandoning streets every time there is a problem with one house or two houses on a street?" Mr. Pate asked.

"I think we all should take our fair share of the responsibility. But, there is also a water problem and the hill slide. Has anyone said you have to reroute the water?" Mr. Pate asked.

"When I bought the property there was a drain and there was no problem. Then you (Mr. Pate) cut the hill and that same area collapsed. That was in 2003. When you put dirt in I reminded you of the drain. The PVC pipe that was installed must have been a low grade because my driveway started cracking and the drain collapsed. This has been a weak area since 2003. I rerouted the drain two years ago," Mrs. Hart said.

Mr. Sinclair suggested that the city delay action until after he, Mr. Ament and Mr. Pate have talked.

"But you must remember that if we don't do what the engineers recommend we are liable," Councilman Sam Florian said.

FEMA has come by and said they would help but the figures are small," City Manager Mike Murray said.

In another matter, the council discussed financing of the construction of a 200,000 gallon ground storage tank and extending water lines, plus new water line, new water plant and 10 inch distribution line.

Cost of the project has risen from the first $800,000 quoted to $1,001,000. "This amount is in addition to the $250,000 grant the city is receiving for the ground storage tank," Mr. Murray said.

Councilman Donald Woodard said, "Everything we have done in the last three years has almost doubled. You can't nail down the cost on anything."

Mr. Murray reported to the council that engineers are still checking on the bids for the project and recommendations will be made to the council at a later meeting.

Mr. Murray and Mayor Angela Raiborn have checked with local banks concerning financing the cost of the water project. Whether to hire a bond attorney or not was discussed but no decision was reached. Interest rate is expected to be approximately 6.15 percent.

Mr. Murray was authorized to use $17,000 from a water construction fund to pay for the engineer plans.

Attending the meeting were Mayor Raiborn; Councilmembers Morgan, Walter Session, Don Jones, Woodard and Florian; City Manager Murray; and City Secretary Fran Wendeborn. The council is expected to meet at 5 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 11.