Council questions $181,110 design agreement and funding plan for Washington Boulevard multipurpose trail

Councilmembers debated whether to authorize $181,110 in preliminary engineering and design work for a proposed Washington Boulevard multipurpose trail and raised questions about grant paperwork, construction cost estimates and the trail alignment.

The discussion began when the mayor called for consideration of a fee proposal from American StructurePoint for “preliminary engineering survey environmental stage 1 design… and final tracings” for the Washington Boulevard trail. Kelsey Morton of American StructurePoint presented the firm’s scope and fee and answered technical questions from council and staff about path width, additional services and what is included in the $181,110 fee.

Councilmembers pressed for details the packet did not provide. Councilmember Cooney asked for examples of StructurePoint’s work in residential corridors. Morton said the firm would provide additional residential examples on request. Councilmember Rock and others questioned the project’s priority compared with other capital needs and said the packet lacked clarity on grant status and long-term…