Rome to sign off on 2nd Ave. utility work
Commissioners also are slated to vote Monday on a teen curfew and nuisance ordinances targeting crime hotspots.
The Rome City Commission is slated to approve on Monday a contract that pushes the Second Avenue widening project farther along.
The pending agreement allows the Georgia Department of Transportation to include relocating the city’s water and sewer lines in the project when it calls for bids. Rome would have to reimburse the state for that work, which is currently estimated at $366,840.
Funding for the estimated $6 million construction work is not scheduled until 2022, according to the GDOT project search website. Another $1.3 million is budgeted for utility relocation, which would include any phone or power lines that need to be moved along the 0.6-mile stretch.
Second Avenue is slated to be widened and improved from the Oostanaula River bridge south of Heritage Park to just north of the intersection at Turner McCall Boulevard. The Y-intersection, which is next to the Floyd Medical Center complex, will be replaced by a standard four-way intersection.
GDOT has already spent about $10 million on right of way and engineering, according to the figures reported on the project page.
Commissioners are scheduled to caucus at 5 p.m. and start their regular meeting at 6:30 p.m. Both sessions at City Hall, 601 Broad St., are public.
Also on the agenda are plans to adopt two ordinance amendments addressing hotspots of illegal activity and one setting a curfew for minors.
Commissioners are trying to target locations where police are regularly called to deal with crimes such as prostitution, drug abuse, fights and gambling. Under the proposed amend- ments, the property owners would be required to eliminate the activity or face prosecution under the public nuisance ordinance.
Another proposed ordinance would set a curfew of between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. for unaccompanied minors under the age of 17.
“The Mayor and Commission for the city have determined that there has been an increase in juvenile violence and crime … (and) there has been a significant breakdown in the supervision and guidance normally provided by parents for juveniles resulting in an increase in the crimes, substance abuse, school dropout rates, juvenile pregnancy and other illicit behavior,” the draft ordinance reads in part.
The curfew would apply to both public places and private businesses such as a mall, restaurant or amusement center. Parents or guardians would be cited along with the child. There are some exemptions listed, for emergencies, work and travel from organized youth activities.