SCHENECTADY Federal stimulus money to pay for paving on three streets BY KATHLEEN MOORE Gazette Reporter Reach Gazette reporter Kathleen Moore at 395-3120 or moore@dailygazette.com.
The city couldn’t afford to pave roads on Hamilton Hill this year. Luckily, the federal government could. Schenectady received an additional amount of stimulus funding through the Community Development Block grant, with the instructions to use it on infrastructure and job creation. The City Council immediately agreed to use it on paving, but on Monday only fi ve of the members could agree on which streets to do. In the end, Stanley Street and Duane Avenue won, along with Seneca Street, which must be ripped up this year during the construction of the new Bureau of Service complex. Those streets won by a vote of 5-2. Council members said the federal government wanted to projects to begin so quickly that they didn’t have time to come to consensus. C o u n c i l w o m a n B a r b a r a Blanchard, who voted against the plan, campaigned for the addition of one block of N. College Street, near the former Van Dyke restaurant. “It’s in very bad condition and the Van Dyke is just about to open up there,” Blanchard said. She also argued that money would be better spent on handicap-accessible curb cuts, particularly near City Hall and the Summit Towers retirement home, as suggested by one resident during last week’s public hearing. She suggested eliminating Seneca Street paving to fund her projects. Some council members praised her ideas but said there wasn’t time to get cost-estimates because they had to vote Monday. If they had chosen her plan, Councilman Mark Blanchfield said, they would have been “buying blind.” Blanchard criticized the speed of the process. “I feel we have no input,” she said. “To not be able to change our plans after the public hearing, it’s not giving credence to the public comments.” ........>>>>............>>>>..............http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....amp;EntityId=Ar01001
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