Norman council discusses 2 bonds

BY JANE GLENN CANNON Comments 0
Published: November 7, 2009

NORMAN — City council members are looking at two bonds for voters to consider in March, one for an outdoor early-warning system and the other to fund street repairs and maintenance.

The $2.1 million needed for an updated and expanded warning system would raise property taxes minimally, officials said.

A $19 million dollar proposal to fund citywide road work would not increase taxes. It would replace a $10 million general obligation bond package passed in 2005 that expires in 2010.

Council members discussed the proposals in a study session on Tuesday. Plans should be finalized within the next few weeks, they said.

Fire Chief Jim Fullingim said a new outdoor warning system is needed to replace the city’s aging 38-unit system that doesn’t cover the entire city.

A new 74-siren system is needed, Fullingim said.

Council members favor financing the system over five years. The average cost to the owner of a $100,000 home would be 61 cents a month, Finance Director Anthony Francisco said.

Money left over

Because of a favorable bid-letting climate, Public Works Director Shawn O’Leary said the city has $1 million remaining from the $10 million bond package passed in 2005.

"Everything promised the voters is either done or under contract, and we have money left over,” he said.

O’Leary proposed, and council members agreed, that the remaining funds be used to expand repairs and resurfacing of city streets in an older section of northeast Norman.

The new $19 million general obligation bond proposal would pay for $4 million worth of street reconstruction in areas where roadways are so deteriorated they can’t be patched or repaired, said O’Leary.

The remainder of the money would be used for roadway rehabilitation and maintenance citywide with bicycle safety features added in some areas and drainage improvements where necessary, O’Leary said.

"If you wait until a roadway has deteriorated to the point it can’t be rehabilitated, then it is far more expensive to remedy the situation. A repair and maintenance program is much more cost effective,” he said.

Council members are interested in widening the shoulders on E Alameda Street toward Lake Thunderbird and 24th Avenue NE for safety reasons. A financing method has not been determined.