Agenda Item # 3
Columbus Consolidated Government
Council Meeting
11/23/2010
Agenda Report # 578
TO: Mayor and Council
SUBJECT: Georgia Department of Transportation - Safe Routes to School
Grant Application
INITIATED BY: Planning Department
Recommendation: Approval is requested to submit an application and if approved
accept a Safe Routes to School Program Grant up to $164,131.00 and amend the
Multi-Governmental Fund by the award amount..
Background: Clubview Elementary School is seeking to have more of its students
bicycle or walk to school on a regular basis. Students from the
neighborhoods south of the school property who presently walk to and from
school often have to walk in the streets, as there are no sidewalks. The
Georgia Department of Transportation administers the federal Safe Routes to
School grant program, which awards grants up to $500,000.00 in federal funding
for projects designed to improve bicycle and pedestrian accessibility to
schools serving grades K-8.
The grant program funds 100% of the construction for selected projects and all
preliminary engineering is handled by the Georgia Department of
Transportation. No local matching funds are required or accepted for this
program. All projects must occur in land already in the public right of way,
no funding can be spent on acquisition.
As part of the application requirements, staff from Clubview Elementary, the
River Valley Regional Commission and the Columbus Planning Department met to
develop a Safe Routes to School Plan. This plan identified streets, which
needed sidewalk improvements near the school that would serve children.
Analysis: The Safe Routes to School grant application is being submitted for
new sidewalks to be constructed in the right of way of several streets near
Clubview Elementary School as follows:
1. Lynda Lane between Clubview Drive and Sue Mack Drive (approximately 1,072
feet long)
2. Lynda Lane between Clubview Drive and Meadowview Drive (approximately 672
feet long)
3. Nancy Street between Meadowview Drive and Clubview Drive (approximately 501
feet long)
4. Techwood Drive between Sue Mack Drive and Meadowview Drive (approximately
1,400 feet long)
5. Clubview Drive between Nancy Street and Lynda Lane (approximately 612 feet
long)
6. Sue Mack Drive between Nancy Street and Techwood Drive (approximately 1,170
feet long)
7. Country Club Drive between Madden Drive and Meadowview Drive (approximately
1,150 feet)
8. Meadowview Drive between Country Club Drive and Lynda Lane (approximately
250 feet)
These routes have been reviewed for feasibility with the Columbus Traffic
Engineering department and have been approved.
Financial Considerations: The project, if chosen for Safe Routes to School
grant funding, would cost $164,131.00. This would be fully federally funded
and there would not be any local match required or accepted.
Legal Considerations: The project will take place entirely within the right of
way for these streets. The city would be obligated by the terms and conditions
of the grant contract.
Recommendations/ Actions: Approve the resolution authorizing to submit an
application and if approved accept a Safe Routes to School Grant and amend the
Multi-Governmental Fund by the amount awarded.
A RESOLUTION
NO. _____
A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO SUBMIT AN APPLICATION AND IF
APPROVED ACCEPT A SAFE ROUTES TO SCHOOL GRANT FROM THE GEORGIA DEPARTMENT OF
TRANSPORTATION IN AN AMOUNT OF $164,131.00, OR AS OTHERWISE AWARDED, WITH NO
LOCAL MATCHING REQUIREMENT, AND TO AMEND THE MULTI-GOVERNMENTAL FUND BY THE
AMOUNT OF THE GRANT AWARD.
WHEREAS, Clubview Elementary serves as a magnet school for students
between the levels of Kindergarten to 5th grade; and,
WHEREAS, the streets to the south and west of campus do not presently have
sidewalks, forcing school children who do walk to and from school from these
locations to walk in the street or across private property; and,
WHEREAS, the Safe Routes to School program is a competitive grant program
utilizing only federal funding and requiring no local matching fund or
contribution to fund the development of safer corridors for students between
the levels of Kindergarten to 8th grade to walk or ride bicycles between home
and school. This program is administered thru by the Georgia Department of
Transportation, which will handle all preliminary engineering and associated
costs with construction for the project; and,
WHEREAS, Clubview Elementary worked with the Columbus Planning Department and
the River Valley Regional Commission to develop a Safe Routes to School plan
which proposes to have sidewalks added to segments of six streets near Clubview
on the south side of its campus; and,
WHEREAS, the work specified in the plan, if the grant is awarded, is required
to take place entirely within existing city right of way along these streets.
NOW, THEREFORE, THE COUNCIL OF COLUMBUS, GEORGIA, HEREBY RESOLVES AS FOLLOWS:
That the City Manager is hereby authorized to submit an application and if
approved accept a Safe Routes to School Grant in the amount of $164,131.00 or
the award amount to have sidewalks added to segments of six streets near
Clubview Elementary School on the south side of the campus, with no local
matching requirement. Authorize to amend the Multi-Governmental Fund by the
amount awarded.
___________
Introduced at a regular meeting of the Council of Columbus, Georgia, held
the _________day of _____________, 2010 and adopted at said meeting by the
affirmative vote of _____________members of said Council.
Councilor Allen voting __________.
Councilor Henderson voting __________.
Councilor Hunter voting __________.
Councilor McDaniel voting __________.
Councilor Turner Pugh voting __________.
Councilor Woodson voting __________.
___________________________________ _____________________________
Tiny B. Washington, Clerk of Council , Mayor
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