West Madison roundabout makes way for eighth elementary school, raises questions of city finances

By Maria Rakoczy (maria@themadisonrecord.com)

MADISON – An unassuming resolution regarding the construction of a roundabout at the intersection of Hardiman Road and Halsey Drive sparked debate at the Monday’s City Council meeting on management of city finances. The resolution authorizes a reimbursement agreement with Enfinger Development, LLC for construction of a roundabout and the expansion of the roadway at the intersection located near the property that will house Madison City School District’s eighth elementary school.

The construction has required the consultation of Madison City Schools for the impact of the project on the new school site. The city and the school district determined after a traffic study that a roundabout was the best solution that would benefit future school traffic by easing the flow of vehicles between both roads. It will require the acquisition of two parcels of privately owned land on either side of Halsey Drive to expand the roadway and make space for the roundabout.

Director of Development Services, Mary Beth Broeren, stated the project had promising benefits, “With the school traffic that’s anticipated, a roundabout’s really necessary at that intersection and would allow traffic to flow better than putting in a traffic signal

Objections arose, however, over the cost, which comes in at nearly $1.4 million, and the decision to contract the project out to a developer at that price rather than perform it in-house with the city’s engineering department.

Bernadette Mayer questioned the council’s prioritizing of projects and asked them to delay voting, “I’m not sure a decision needs to be made tonight. This is something very, very serious. With our city revenues growing from 59.9 million in 2017 and expenditures growing from 46.9 million in 2017, how is it a fraction of the money cannot be spent on a small way that has significant impact on residents’ quality of life, like I said, the sidewalk project for $40,700?”

Margi Daly echoed Mayer’s concerns, “A simple sidewalk, the council says, ‘We don’t have the money for it,’ but a developer, we jump on it and we do it for them.”

Another concerned citizen, Jocelyn Broer, asked about plans to accommodate the safety of students in the project, “Please let’s not be behind on safety. This area, the intersection of Hardiman and Madison Branch Boulevard, formerly known as Halsey Road, will now have an elementary school and a high school with high school drivers. We need safe crossings, sidewalk updates now, not in Phase 2, or Phase 3, or however many phases might be. We cannot afford to have any injuries to our children.”

On student safety in the area, Mayor Paul Finley commented, “We are going to need to make sure, as we look at this, that we try to get ahead of the game of which subdivisions could connect to this to walk on the back side and the front side, and typically, we do a good job of that working with our folks on the front end with both the schools and the city. So, that will be something we look at.”

Broeren responded to questions about debt and the choice to contract out the project, “We’re not suggesting the city take on more debt to support this project. It’s money that would be coming out of the existing general fund.” Broeren continued, “From an efficiency standpoint, having one set of contractors develop the roadway system makes the most sense. It makes it safer. It cuts down on truck traffic.”

After hearing the public’s input, the city council voted to approve the reimbursement agreement that will move the project forward.

The comments made on this resolution utilized the new public comment format for the first time. The format designates three different sections throughout the meeting for citizens to address the council. The first section allows only for comments related to items on the meeting’s agenda with the exception of Public Hearing items. Comments on Public Hearing items are relegated to the Public Hearing section. The third section is the closing one of the meeting and allows for any and all topics to be addressed. The new format was implemented with some confusion at first from the public, but will continue to be used on a trial basis in council meetings throughout May.

Citizens utilized the final section of public comments to voice their opinions on the city manager proposal. Accusations of outward bias on the issue were levelled at the mayor and council members, to which, Mayor Finley responded, “However it works, the responsibility that we have, whether its staying here and doing what we were elected to do or helping this community transform into something that’s new and different, we’ll be ready to do it.”

The next city council meeting will take place on Monday, May 8 at 6 pm in the council chambers at city hall.

The council addressed the following additional items at the April 24 meeting:

• Renewing the levying of ad valorem taxes in City of Madison at the current rate of
• Payment to Barge Design Solutions, Inc. for $13,984.52 for professional services completed on February 25 through March 31, 2023 on Wall Triana and I-565 intersection improvements.
• Payment to Wiregrass Construction for $36,362.39 for work on the Middle School Infrastructure Project
• Professional Services Agreement with Croy Engineering, LLC for engineering design on the Hughes Road and Mill Road/Portal Lane pedestrian signal improvements for $50,772
• Professional Services Agreement with Garver, LLC for design recommendations on channel improvements in Stavemill Estates along Portal Lane for $125,230
• Donations from M.C. Flurer of $25 and from J. Cazer of $100 for the Senior Center
• Appointments to Places 1, 2, 4, 6, and 7 on the Madison Police Citizens Advisory Committee and of Shaylyn Lecroy to Place 2 of the Recreation Advisory Board
• Zoning Ordinance setting parking space standards for mini storage and self-service storage facilities as one parking space per 7500 square feet
• License Agreements with Southern Broadcasting LLC and Madison County Veterans Association for Rainbow Mountain Tower
• Renewing lease of an ambulance with HEMSI for $1 a year