Check includes no blueprint

5/7/2007
Daviess received road money but doesn't know why

By James Mayse

Messenger-Inquirer

When Gov. Ernie Fletcher came to Owensboro last week, one of the many checks he handed out went to Daviess Fiscal Court for road work.

While county officials appreciate the check, they said Monday they need more information from the state before the money can be put to use.

Fletcher gave Fiscal Court $350,000 on May 1 for road resurfacing projects.
But Judge-Executive Reid Haire said the county received no direction as to how, or where, the money could be spent.

Since the county has applied for state funds for several projects, officials are awaiting word about which project or projects are covered by the funds.

Haire said when he spoke to a state transportation official Monday, "I said ... 'We've been contacted on three or four occasions by the Department of Transportation and asked to send lists' " of projects.

Haire said he initially thought the funding could be used for any road project chosen by county officials. But when he contacted transportation officials in Madisonville, he was told the funds were not discretionary, Haire said.

County Treasurer Tony Sook said Monday when the county received notice of the $350,000, "we weren't given information as far as (if) that money was related to applications we had filed. Still today, we have not been given the details on how that money can be spent."

Keith Todd, a spokesman for the Transportation Cabinet's Madisonville office, said the number of road projects the county has submitted for state funding is causing the confusion.

"Owensboro-Daviess County has submitted four or five different requests.
That's why there has been trouble matching (a project) dollar amount to that" $350,000 award, Todd said.

The state official who knows what road project the money was intended for was on the road Monday and unable to provide the information, Todd said.

"It's just a matter of matching up the check with a specific request," Todd said.

The funds would be distributed as reimbursements for road work done by the county, Haire said. The money could be full funding for a project or only partial funding, he said.

"That's why we have to rely on the state, to tell us what the grant is for,"
Haire said.

Haire said the funds could possibly be for widening Graham Lane near Thruston.

County Engineer Sinan Rayyan said officials would like to widen the road, put in curbs and storm sewers and a pedestrian walkway. Because the roadway is busy with traffic "it's not safe for people to be walking," Rayyan said.

"It has been a year and a half since we first requested money for Graham Lane," Haire said. "I would like to bring some relief for those people."

Sook said "we graciously accept the money from the state" but are awaiting direction from transportation officials before making plans.

The Transportation Cabinet is working with a lot of counties of road funding projects, Haire said. "They've given out so many checks to so many communities that it can be confusing," Haire said.

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