BCR's Daily Fishwrap Report for February 3, 2009

In other local news:

• County Commissioners got a look at the $1.1 billion ten-year capital plan for Durham County; 80% of the spending would be for school construction. The cost of expanding the county jail ballooned to $155 million from an estimated $85 million less than two years back, leading BOCC members and county manager Mike Ruffin alike to send the idea back to the drawing board for consideration of an off-site location away from the new courthouse. The N.C. Museum of Life and Science also drew a very cool reaction for its $21.4 million proposed cap-ex over ten years. (H-S, N&O)
• Meanwhile, look for a 2011 bond levy to support the downtown library, open space acquisition, museum projects, and school efforts -- most notably meaning the main branch library renovations probably won't start until 2012 at the earliest. The H-S notes elected officials don't want to look to voters for a bond levy in these tough economic times. (H-S)
• City Councilman Howard Clement last night pointedly asked city manager Tom Bonfield why the city had cut a DATA Route 3 spur route to Merrick-Moore School after the council asked for that spur a few years back. The action was taken by the DATA board, which has control over routes; the H-S further notes that the spur was drawing an average of five riders per day and was causing the route to run late overall. The DATA board will reconsider the change at their Wednesday meeting. (H-S)
• Since July, the new Project Access program for specialty health care services for disadvantaged residents has delivered more than $700k of care and cut no-shows for specialty appointments from 50% to 5%. The program is funded by the county, the Duke Endowment, and Blue Cross-Blue Shield of NC. (H-S)

Comments

[Todd]

Isn't this the wrong time to be delaying the County bond issue to 2011? Bids for the new courthouse came in way below projections because contractors need the work. That may not be the case 2 years from now.

Kicking off these projects sooner, rather than later, would help to generate local jobs.

This also makes me wonder - did Durham County produce a list of potential projects for the federal stimulus plan? Seems like some of the school or other projects would have been ready to go if federal dollars were made available.