Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Cdbg Dr Allocation topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Council rejects motion to rescind Gosport funding; residents press to keep Railroad Avenue grant
Summary
After an hours-long public hearing and council debate over contamination, deadlines and transparency, the council voted down a motion to rescind an ordinance reallocating a $4 million CDBG-DR grant from a Railroad Avenue revitalization project to the Gosport Recreation Center; multiple residents urged the council to retain funds for sidewalks, drainage and lighting on Railroad Avenue.
An effort to rescind an earlier ordinance that redirected disaster-recovery CDBG funds to the Gosport Recreation Center failed after a lengthy public hearing and debate.
Councilman Morris sought reconsideration so he could change his prior vote, saying he had voted based on information that later proved inaccurate. "I feel I did the public a disservice because some of the information we were given was inaccurate at the time that it was given to us," he said, asking the council to allow him to change his vote.
Scores of residents and business owners from the Railroad Avenue / Nellie Lutcher Cultural District urged the council not to reallocate the grant. Joshua Macer, who said he owns Axe Theater on Railroad Avenue, noted the project included sidewalks, drainage and transit improvements and asked for "a clear picture and then a public path forward for Railroad Avenue and this project." Lydia Delcomb urged the council to "pause this reallocation, look at the science, and safely rebuild the infrastructure" using less-invasive remediation techniques.
Administration and the mayor described a roughly 960‑page Phase I environmental assessment that showed "areas of concern" in the Railroad Avenue corridor and said a Phase II investigation — including sampling on private properties — would be required to identify exact contamination locations. The mayor and staff said the prior administration had canceled the Railroad Avenue project after that Phase I and that the current proposal aimed to use funds on a project the administration could certify to the state before grant deadlines.
Council then voted on the motion to rescind Ordinance No. 20563. The clerk announced "6 no votes and 1 yes vote; the one yes vote was from Mr. Marks," leaving the ordinance intact and the funds allocated to the Gosport project.
