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City's Match May Include Prior Work: $8 Million Local Match Needed for Federal Funds

Posted on: Saturday, 4 February 2006, 15:00 CST

By Ryan Garrett, Messenger-Inquirer, Owensboro, Ky.

Feb. 4--A state official said Friday that he expects to know in "weeks or, at worst, months," what work and assets Owensboro can count toward the $8 million match required for $40 million in federal funds for riverfront development.

Kentucky Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell secured the $40 million in a federal highway bill last July. But local officials say they only learned about the match a few weeks ago when another city called about a similar project there.

Previous work on the Owensboro riverfront project -- even including land acquisition -- is among the items that might be considered toward a match, said Mike Hancock, deputy state highway engineer for program planning.

Investments along the riverfront with nonfederal funds could probably count as well, he said.

State and local officials will have to work with the Federal Highway Administration to establish a list of items that meet federal expectations, Hancock said.

"There are other possibilities (than cash) for offsetting that matching fund requirement," he said. "And we certainly are willing to work with the local folks to make that a reality if indeed we can demonstrate to the Federal Highway Administration that's the way it needs to work."

The match can be divvied up proportionally as the city draws the funds, which pass through the state Transportation Cabinet, Hancock said.

City Manager Bob Whitmer said he and Operations Manager Tony Cecil have been compiling a list of items they hope to count.

The list includes things like the $2 million Locust Street outfall drainage project, improvements along Veterans Boulevard and at Smothers Park and easements the Executive Inn Rivermont and the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 696 provided for the project.

"We've looked at numerous possibilities that would definitely exceed $8 million," Whitmer said. "But right now, we don't know how many of those would be accepted or would be rejected."

City officials are trying to schedule a meeting with the state next week to determine what items to present to the Federal Highway Administration.

Whitmer said he has pushed for a meeting since learning of the match about two weeks ago. The delay has frustrated city officials.

"All this is speculation," Whitmer said. " ... It's all speculation because we can't get any answers."

The project includes a walkway with overlooks along the Ohio River between Veterans Boulevard and English Park, a river wall between the RiverPark Center and the Executive Inn and other amenities in the area.

The city has used $12 million in grants along the riverfront, Whitmer said. Six of those grants were from transportation funds and did not require matches, he said.

"We have a defined district," Whitmer said. "There's been a lot of projects performed in that district that improved that whole area and could be related to downtown riverfront development."

The federal funds are allocated through 2009 and will be available until they are spent as long as the project is under way and a "reasonable effort" is made to draw the funds, Hancock said.

"We're hopeful that everything will work out so that past efforts can be recognized," he said. "It's just something we're working through, and I believe we'll get there. It should be hopefully a matter of weeks or, at worst, months.

"I don't see this as being a protracted issue," he said. "It's just something we need to reconcile in order to move forward."

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Copyright (c) 2006, Messenger-Inquirer, Owensboro, Ky.

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Source: Messenger-Inquirer

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