Community members mostly voiced support Tuesday for projects in Jefferson City's application for $2 million in state COVID-19 relief funding.
The plan, which was discussed during a public hearing Tuesday, includes the widening of Monroe Street, which the city would lead, as well as two projects targeting affordable housing that would be undertaken by nonprofit groups.
The public hearing is the last step before submitting the application, which comes out to $2 million exactly; that doesn't mean the city will receive the full amount, officials note.
The main conversation at Tuesday's public hearing focused on the impact of widening Monroe Street to make it a two-lane road.
Funding comes from the CARES Act, which means all projects need to relate back to preparing for, preventing or responding to COVID-19.
The city is requesting $1.25 million from these funds for the project, which would be in addition to funds from the Jefferson City and Cole County capital improvement sales taxes.
Widening the road from Woodlawn Avenue to Hickory Street -- along with adding sidewalks and street lights -- will cost an estimated $3.49 million.
Rachel Senzee, neighborhood services supervisor, said widening Monroe Street has been in planning documents at least since 2017, but the 2019 tornado made the issue more apparent.
When asked Tuesday why the project would qualify for COVID-19-relief funding, Senzee said it goes back to access to Capital Region.
"So what our justification was, is that we don't have two-way access to Capital Region," she said. "So, they're strained on one point. I think we really noticed this during the 2019 tornado. We had a hard time getting to the hospital. That was problematic.
"So, this is one of the projects that was identified as a priority," she said. "Being able to have access to medical care, that's how we tied it to COVID."
The project will include the partial or total acquisition of about 15 properties along the road.
At the moment, city staff estimates three would need to be total acquisition, but that may change as engineers design the roadway.
Owners of those properties received a letter notifying them about Tuesday's meeting. While most in attendance supported the overall project, they still expressed concerns.
Will Feyer, who has lived there for more than 17 years with his wife, said he sees the need for the project and thinks it'll benefit the community.
"We knew this was just a matter of time before this came along," he said. "For safety concerns, I understand the need for this. We're not going to fight this. In our particular situation, we've been there 17 years, and it could just be real hard to say goodbye."
Resident Rupert Wilson said he's concerned about what the compensation for the homeowners will be. There's more to the property for these people than just the appraised cost of the property. For example, he said, some may have moved to the area because it isn't a major road and therefore safer for children to play. The home met their needs.
"I'm totally for development, especially for a hospital," he said. "I'm just trying to mean as a homeowner, I'm ready to move, and I can say that I was a part of this great new development. ... I understand about the queen bees and the king bees and the worker bees. We became the worker bees. I am just wanting the queen bees and the king bees to be conscious of trying to let us be satisfied as home owners."
Steve Waters, who is renovating a home along Monroe Street, said he fully supports the project after spending so much time there because it will make the environment safer.
"There's no stop sign from Douglas Street all the way up to the hospital," he said. "I know in my past experience as a police officer, cars are running 60-70 miles an hour up that street. If nothing else, the safety in widening that street will give the homeowners at least along that street safety from that single car running 70 miles an hour."
While he also recognizes the importance of getting traffic to the hospital, Waters said the most important part for him is the improved safety to come along with the project.
The project did raise some objections.
Resident Jeff Feeler said his first question when he first got the notice about the project was, "What's the purpose of a sidewalk to nowhere?"
Most affected homeowners live on Oak Street with their properties backing onto Monroe Street.
Feeler said he's concerned building a sidewalk there will expose the properties to litter, vandalism and theft.
"I also wondered why the hospital didn't widen on their side of the road when they built the parking lot," he said. "I think most of the people in my neighborhood are resigned to their fate.
"We've dealt with losing direct access to Highway 54 via Woodlawn, early morning construction and mowing at night, having to use different routes to and from home because of partial and full road shutdowns ... all of the improvements around us are being done for the hospital without actual benefit to the people who live here," he said.
Gaspare Calvaruso, president of Capital Region Medical Center, said access is a big issue and it limits the hospital on what it can do on the Monroe Street side of the campus.
However, that isn't the only reason he said he supports the project.
"Two-way Monroe would definitely provide us a lot more access," he said. "That's the primary reason we've been advocating for this, but there's a secondary reason, which is we are a part of this community. The Old Munichburg Historic Southside area is where Capital Region lives.
"In 2015, I believe, we sponsored a study to help try to improve or to provide some ideas around what could we do as a community to try and improve our neighborhood ... one of those was to widen Monroe. Not only does it provide access, and I hear you loud and clear and will provide a busier street, but that was one of the things that the study talked about; having more visibility from a safety standpoint," Calvaruso said.
No opposition was raised about the two nonprofits' applications that focused on affordable housing.
Compass Health had asked for $100,000 to conduct a study looking at construction of affordable housing within Jefferson City.
Transformational Housing had asked for $544,000 for renovations at 101 Jackson St. to convert it into five apartments.
See also:
Jefferson City Council approves of 101 Jackson St. redevelopment