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THURSDAY. NOVEMBER 6, 1997 <br /> <br />things up. The response from Mr. Tart was that things were moving as fast as possible now, and that this is a <br /> <br />normal time frame for such a project. Mr. Hollis also pointed out the significant drainage problem related to <br /> <br />the project, and that this element must be addressed properly the first time. Councilmember TeaRue then <br />expressed his concern for a sense of urgency. He stated that it had taken far too long to get to the current <br />point in the project, that he did not want to hear of more delays, .and that whatever it took to move the project ~-- <br />along should be done. He also further emphasized the importance of the project to the City's economic <br />future. Mr. Hollis assured Council of their awareness of the urgency of the time frame, and stated his <br />employees would be working overtime and doing whatever it took to produce the work, and help the City ~ <br />meet its goals. He stated that the complete survey and preliminary design work would be finished by February <br />of 1998, that property and fight of way acquisition would then start, and that they expected to go to bid on <br />construction work in June of 1999. Mr. Perez, a local businessman, asked when businesses in the area of the <br />project might get information on how this work would affect their operations. Mr. Tart replied that they <br />would get impact information by December, 1998. Vice-Mayor Crabtree again expressed his concern that <br />emergency efforts were not being taken to speed up the project, since the project is a major priority for both <br />Martinsville and Henry County. Mr. Tart stated that VDOT was moving ahead in a faster than usual manner, <br />as demonstrated by the fact that Florence & Hutcheson was going ahead with design work without a contract <br />at this point. Councilmember Haskell asked whether further compression of the schedule could be done, to <br />which Mr. Hollis replied that work was already moving as fast as possible. Development Specialist David <br /> <br />Reeves asked whether City resources might be used to assist in speeding the work, and also asked if a <br />Design/Build process might be used. Mr. Tart replied that Design/Build was not allowed by law in this case, <br />but that the possibility of using City resources would be examined, possibly with right of way acquisition. <br />Vice-Mayor Crabtree again expressed his concern about the pace of the work, to which Councilmember <br /> <br />TeaRue agreed. The Vice-Mayor then suggested that perhaps the project could be accelerated with assistance <br />from the State Legislature, to which Mr. Hollis replied that this would not speed things up, and that~they had <br />all the resources needed to move as fast as possible. There was then discussion about the drainage problems <br /> <br /> <br />