Councilman comments on upcoming projects in the Top City
TOPEKA (KSNT)- Councilman Spencer Duncan with District 8 joined 27 News Morning anchor Katie Garceran in speaking about the progression of certain initiatives and projects going on around the city right now and in the near future.
In regard to the recently proposed Land Bank Program, Duncan said that he expects it will get voted in next week. At Tuesday night’s council meeting, he said they fine-tuned any details and everyone seemed satisfied with the final proposal.
“The money, luckily, doesn’t have to come out of our general fund,” Duncan said. “We had someone who owed a lot of back taxes pay off those taxes, so we are able to take a portion of that money and put it into this.”
The money required for that Land Bank Program is a one-time cost of $500,000.
Additionally, the council discussed CIP (Capital Improvement Projects), both new and old and what issues need to take top priority in the coming years.
A graphic that was released shows more than 50% of their efforts will be delegated toward working on water and street repairs.
“We are decades behind on some of these issues,” Duncan said. “
Two of the main things they are homing in on redoing the entire water system, as well as filling all the potholes that plague the city.
A newer project that is getting some attention is being dubbed “Elevation Parkway”. It is essentially a new road that connects Fairlawn to Wanamaker through the 37th street area. Duncan says there will be a lot of discussion about this project, especially due to its hefty price tag.
“There are other projects that are very large right now that we are talking about scaling back so that we can save money, and put those towards other projects.”
Closing out the interview, Duncan said he is excited to see what comes out of the council this summer regarding common consumption.
“It’s going to be a fun conversation to have about where we should and shouldn’t be walking around Downtown Topeka with alcohol,” said Duncan.
To hear the full interview, you can watch the video above.