You may recall that Pinehurst applied for funding from the Neighborhood Street Fund for a sidewalk on NE 125th Street between 5th Ave NE and Roosevelt Way NE. The Neighborhood Street Fund is a pool of money that comes from the Real Estate Excise Tax (REET, the tax paid by sellers on each real estate sale) and is allocated annually by the city to be used for capital improvement projects – such as sidewalks.
In 2008, $95,000 is available for North District neighborhoods. This is a very very small amount of money when you consider that a sidewalk normally costs $100,000 + per block when there are no drainage issues. And, there are many significant needs throughout our district – in the multi-millions of dollars.
However, we need to work with what we have while we continue to advocate for additional ways to fund needed infrastructure in our neighborhood.
Jodi, a Pinehurst resident who lives on 125th has been working hard to advocate for a 125th sidewalk. She has been speaking with SDOT and she is looking for economical, environmentally friendly, and creative ways to make this sidewalk possible. She prepared the above map showing the many factors that should be considered in evaluating this project against others in the North District. Karla, another Pinehurst resident and who also lives close to this proposed project, has generously offered to represent the project at the July 2nd North District Council meeting (7PM at Lake City Library Conference Room).
Way to go, Jodi & Karla! Thank you for all of your efforts on our behalf!
Thanks for representing Pinehurst.