Letter: Update on King Street repairs

Bruce A. Maguire
St Augustine, FL

Dear Editor:

Tuesday afternoon, Jessica Clark interviewed me from First Coast News inquiring about the status of road and sidewalk repairs included in the King Street project.

I told her that the key issues with the project are:

1. Keeping the focus on the section between Malaga Street and City Hall
2. Keeping the project money intact for the same section.

Since flooding repairs stopped at the St Augustine Police Department on King Street at Malaga Street; we do not want the east end of King Street, from the Casa Monica Hotel to the bayfront, to pull either the focus or the money away from the work that is necessary at our end of the street.

In that regard; water drainage, streetscape, underground power lines, etc., are the basics.

Clark asked if King Street residents and merchants would be willing to pay for a portion of the cost of those repairs.

I responded that I would be surprised if the city didn’t expect it from us, in light of the recent streetscape project organized by Len Weeks to improve Spanish Street, from Hypolita Street, south towards Orange Street.

I told her that I can see the City saying “either pay, or lose some of the enhancements”.

However, I also told her that I did not like the City spending nearly $6 million for the St Augustine Municipal Marina, Visitor Information Center and M&M Market property on Bridge Street, etc., simply because they chose to label them “450th Commemoration” legacy projects; but, when it came time to perform the minimum maintenance necessary for the taxpayers, we have to pay extra money — because the City didn’t have any.

In my view, the most important request has been for parking. Clark said that she had not heard of that issue. Hmmmmm …