Marion mayor sets goals for 2019

Marion mayor sets goals for 2019

Fogleman emphasizes progress for the city in the new year

By Mark Randall

news @ theeveningtimes .com

Oveipass. Overpass.

Overpass.

Marion Mayor Frank Fogleman went down a list of business he expects will top his agenda in 2019, with the construction of a railroad oveipass tops on his list.

Fogleman said he is hopeful that the state will put the project out for bid and see and actual construction start on a railroad overpass in 2019.

“If we have one more train break down that long again and hold up traffic there will be pitchforks, torches, and tar and feathers coming for me,” Fogleman said. “So yes. I hope to get some further clarity on the time schedule from the state when that will begin.”

The overpass will be built next to the Walmart Neighborhood Grocery from L.H. Polk and Hwy. 77 and connect to Military Road.

The project is expected to cost $11 to $12 million.

The Burlington Northern Santa Fe tracks split the city roughly in half and results in numerous traffic delays. The oveipass will eliminate the problem of trains blocking the railroad crossings.

The project is 90 percent designed and Fogleman said he is hopeful the state will put out bids this summer and that actual construction could begin in the fall.

“I haven’t been very good forecasting when this will get underway in the past,” Fogleman said. “So I really am reluctant to even guess.

My biggest fear is that with the cost of construction escalating over the last couple of years and what I am seeing on projects, my

See FOGLEMAN on Page 3

This is not a project like if you build a house where if you go over-budget you can cut from four bedrooms to jp^- JB1 three. You can’t do that on a project like this.’' — Marioi Mayor Frank Fogleman on overpass project FOGLEMAN____ ,__________ Continued from Page 1

biggest fear is will we have enough money to build it.

This is not a project like if you build a house where if you go over-budget you can cut from four bedrooms to three. You can’t do that on a project like this.”

Marion voters approved refinancing a bond which will generate $12 million for city street projects — $10 million of which has been set aside for the oveipass.

The widening of Military Road could also get underway

in 2019.

The state is planning to widen the road to three lanes from the intersection of 1-55 to the railroad tracks where Military Road meets Highway 77. The plan originally called for five lanes, but Fogleman was able to get them to scale it down to three lanes and to work with the city on adding a median with a turn lane and other landscaping features.

The project was moved off the funding list from 2019 to 2020.

“That’s a Highway Department schedule and it got pushed off,” Fogleman said. “I’m in no position to influence that. It is strictly if the Highway Department gets the funding. They set the schedule, but yes, I expect that to happen soon.”

Fogleman said he also expects construction to get underway on the expansion at the police station.

The bond included $635,000 to build a new evidence storage shed adjacent to the police station, but Fogleman said the project has been expanded to include adding more office space in addition to a secure storage area for evidence.

“It turned out that it has taken on a new form,” Fogleman said. “It does include adding storage, but there is other space being added.”

The current cost is about $458,000.

The city should also see more positive developments in 2019 with the Sultana Museum.

Fogleman said they will begin actual fundraising and have already made contact with several large entities which could make significant financial contributions to help move the project forward.

The museum contains artifacts which tell the story of Sultana, a Mississippi River steamboat paddlewheel which exploded on April 27, 1865, killing more than 1,100 people, mainly Union soldiers who were returning home at the end of the Civil War.

The city has embarked on a campaign to raise money to build a larger, state-ofthe- art museum.

Fogleman said the Clinton Foundation recently contacted the city about boiTowing some artifacts to include in a display at the Clinton Library, and have also agreed to help open doors to potential donors like the Walton Foundation.

“Louis (Intres) has had some really positive things happen,” Fogleman said.

“I think the display at the Clinton Library is going to further help raise awareness of our project, and more importantly, the Clinton Foundation will introduce us to some big players who can help with fundraising.”

Fogleman said there are also a few leftover items like finishing the erosion repairs at the pond at the Sports Complex, and making sure the police and fire

departments get their new

AWIN radios which they have ordered.

The city used bond money to hire contractors to rebuild the embankments around the pond which had eroded over the years and to put a rock barrier to prevent future erosion.

Fogleman said the city still has some concrete work to finish on the sidewalk and will need to re-seed the grass.

“We just have some tidying up work to do over there,” Fogleman said.