Council denies TIGER pursuit
By Ethan Smith
Published in News on March 23, 2016 1:46 PM
A proposal to allow the Downtown Goldsboro Development Corp. to apply for the newest round of federal TIGER grant money was denied by the Goldsboro City Council Monday night in a 4-to-3 split vote, with four members of the council voting against the measure and three members of the council voting in favor of it.
Council members Gene Aycock, Bevan Foster, Mark Stevens and Antonio Williams voted against allowing the DGDC to apply for the TIGER VIII funds, while Mayor Chuck Allen and council members Bill Broadaway and David Ham voted in favor of the proposal.
The decision came during the council's work session, following a presentation made by DGDC Director Julie Metz on two possible application options for the TIGER VIII funds to the council.
The first option was for a $15,212,000 project that would have seen renovations made to the 300 and 400 block of South Center Street, Cornerstone Commons demolished, remodeled and expanded, wayfinding signs implemented throughout the city and renovations made to Historic Union Station.
This proposal was the same idea presented on the city's application for the last round of TIGER grant funds -- the TIGER VII grant -- for which it was turned down.
The second application option included all of the same proposals as the first, with the exception of renovating the Historic Union Station. In lieu of that, the proposal would have used the funding to develop a concourse at the Goldsboro-Wayne Transportation Authority transfer station on Carolina Street. The cost of this option was $6,862,000.
Just as with the most recently completed Phase II of the Streetscape project downtown, the city would have been required to put up a minimum 20 percent match in funding for whatever amount it might have received from the TIGER VIII funds.
"I can't see us getting it again," Broadaway said. "I'd hate for you (Julie) to do all that work, 'cause I saw how much you did."
This would have been the city's fourth time applying for TIGER grant funding from the federal government.
District 1 council member Antonio Williams said he felt the city could use its own funds to begin revitalizing portions of the downtown area, starting with small projects and working its way up.
"I prefer that we use our own resources and try to do something that may not be as elaborate as that but at least we know where our money is at," Williams said.
District 5 council member Ham made the motion Monday night during the work session that the City Council approve the DGDC applying for the TIGER VIII funds so the city could begin and complete the second option presented to the council by Ms. Metz.
Broadaway seconded the motion, which ultimately failed after taking a vote.