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Sitting as Auburn’s redevelopment agency, the city council this week took a giant stride toward putting the ambitious Streetscape project in motion. On a unanimous vote, the council/agency board gave City Manager Bob Richardson authorization to contract with Foothill Associates for the preparation of plans for Streetscape’s first major undertaking — the realignment of the Central Square intersection at High Street, Lewis Street and Lincoln Way and the creation of a new public plaza in the northwest corner of the intersection. The contract calls for a “not to exceed” fee of $245,795, a cost that Engineering Division Chief Bernie Schroeder said in a memo is justified since the project’s cost has been pegged at $3 million.
Schroeder and Public Works Director Jack Warren also recommended that
Foothill Associates be awarded a $39,350 contract for construction
administration, but Mayor Bob Snyder suggested holding off on this
until a later date, and the council obliged. During the Streetscape discussion Councilman Kevin Hanley suggested
that the overall project, which will link the Downtown and Old Town
areas, include emphasis on Auburn’s status as the “Endurance Capital of
the World.” Vice Mayor Keith Nesbitt, who was to be sworn in as mayor Thursday
night, suggested the inclusion of a “Walk of Fame,” with service clubs
sponsoring portions of the project’s new sidewalk. In another pedestrian-related matter, the council authorized Warren to
call for bids for construction of a sidewalk along Maidu Drive in South
Auburn from Shirland Tract Road to Burlin Way. The estimated cost of
the job is $486,000, ninety percent of which will come from a state
grant. In another related matter, the council selected the design for the new
sidewalk that will be constructed along East Lincoln Way from Oak
Street to the Riley corner area. The council also approved a resolution lending the city’s wholehearted
support to the efforts being made to transform the old State Theater
into a performing arts center. In September, the council, acting as the redevelopment agency,
authorized a $125,000 grant that must be matched by the Auburn Placer
Performing Arts Center for a new marquee at the theater.
More city council news can be found in the Sentinel’s next edition.
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