Marshall Municipal Services Committee contends with funding cuts in street plan

In the city's budget for the 2009-2010 fiscal year, Marshall Municipal Services department received substantially less funding than in previous years.

How to deal with this shortfall was a topic of much discussion at the Municipal Services Committee meeting Thursday evening, March 18.

"We started out saying we were only going to do maintenance" on city streets, said MMS employee Marie "Mo" Fowler.

But, because of frequent snowfall and subsequent plowing, some streets will need more than maintenance work.

"This winter was so hard on the streets," she said.

MMS Director Bill Anderson said one of the streets in worst repair is Odell Avenue, from Arrow to College Street.

"We're patching it every week right now," he said.

Residents who live on Conway Avenue between Arrow and Washington streets attended the meeting to express discontent with the state of their road. Some work was done on it in previous years, but was not finished because of weather conditions and coordination problems with subcontractors.

"We just wanted to make sure that we weren't forgotten," resident Dave Duffer said. "If we're on the list, we're happy."

In response, council member Dan Brandt said, "We're dealing with shorter revenue this year. ... We're going to do everything we can to get it done."

The section of Conway Avenue in question is on the department's list of roads needing major repair.

In total, the cost estimate for all the street work MMS would like to do is upwards of $700,000, but the budget is only $500,000. In previous years, it was more like $750,000, Fowler and Anderson said.

So, "About all we can do is go after the very worst," City Administrator Connie Latimer said. "I don't know where the money's going to come from" for everything else.

The committee tried to prioritize those roads in need of major work and find those that could maybe receive lesser treatment this year. Of course, the list is not set in stone, as unforeseen problems will need to be fixed as they arise.

Committee members also decided to revisit the budget at the end of the third quarter, the end of June, to see if additional funds could be found.

"There may be more money available somewhere else within the municipal services department," Latimer said.

She also noted that, though the budget situation is very tight, it could be much worse.

Latimer mentioned the giant snowfalls and subsequent rains and flooding, accompanied by power outages and other issues, in the Northeast, which will all be very costly for local governments.

"If all we have to be concerned about is cutting a street or two here and there, ..." she said, "we really don't have anything to worry about."

In other business, the committee discussed work at Marshall Memorial Airport.

The new fueling system is working well, and striping on the new apron should begin soon, Anderson said.

The airport building itself has also received a bit of a makeover, with workers plastering, painting and cleaning the interior.

"It looks really good inside," Fowler said.

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon actually used Marshall's airport Thursday, Anderson said, after speaking at an agriculture event in Saline County.

City Council members Ron Duvall and Sam Moten were also present at the meeting.

Contact Sydney Stonner at marshallbusiness@socket.net