Bastrop, Tx–Without taking a formal vote today, the city council agreed to include some street, drainage and utility improvements on Farm Street as part of the convention center construction project. The likely added cost will be about $430,000 and can mostly be financed with hotel room tax revenue, said Bastrop City Manager Mike Talbot.
Even with the additional work, civic center construction will remain well within its projected budget, Talbot said. Final bid tabulations for building the civic center and a new city hall are still being reviewed, but the total cost will be roughly $1 million less than the $8.8 million planning estimate, Talbot told the council at their Monday session.
The council expects to discuss selecting the winning bid or bids when it meets at 6 p.m. Jan. 12 at City Hall. Bids were opened last week.
A section of Farm Street between Gills Branch and the Union Pacific rail line is slated for the upgrades after residents along the street complained about potholes, narrow pavement, heavy traffic and a lack of sidewalks in the neighborhood. The comments came as the council discussed rezoning the civic center site which faces Chestnut Street. Council Member Bill Peterson, who has been studying the city’s capital improvement needs, called the Farm Street work “a top priority” among possible projects.
Farm Street marks the northern boundary of the convention center project with a parking lot entry/exit. The street is already a main east-west route between Texas 95 and Fisherman’s Park, said Peterson. Mina Elementary School and the Bastrop school district’s central administration offices are also on Farm Street, adding to the traffic load, said Mayor Terry Orr.