Pricey Contract To Refurbish Dunedin Main Street Sidewalk Questioned

DUNEDIN, FL — Dunedin Vice Mayor John Tornga admitted he did a double take when he glanced at the backup materials for the June 6 city commission meeting and saw the price tag for the first phase of the Main Street Sidewalks Improvement Project.

The 3.5-mile project from Douglas Avenue to the Pinellas Trail crossing at Main Street calls for widening the sidewalk on the south side of Main Street to American with Disabilities Act standards, adding three oak trees for shade, repaving the road with decorative concrete pavers and building two islands with landscaping — one in front of Skip's Bar & Grill and the other in front of GW Salon.

Bob Ironsmith, director of economic development for Dunedin, said the city received two bids for the project and presented the low bid from Kloote Contracting Inc. of Palm Harbor to the commission for approval. The low bid totaled $643,315.

"That's just a lot of money for a sidewalk," said Tornga. "And we lose two parking spaces in the process."

Unfortunately, said Ironsmith, the cost of building materials has risen due to demand and supply chain problems, In addition, the project isn't as simple as it looks at first glance.

"In the environment out there, this is what projects are costing," he said. "All these projects are coming in strong with difficulty getting materials. We looked at it a number of times to see where we could cut costs, but we're going to have to overcome some severe grade changes that are quite challenging."

He said the project will require the removal of asphalt and curbing for the regrading.

"It's very hard to overcome a grade issue," he said. "It's actually a pretty comprehensive initiative."

He said he reviewed the plans with the property owners along that section of Main Street," and they're all very excited."

"It's a narrow sidewalk and isn't walkable," he said. "It doesn't fit in with what we're doing downtown. What we're doing are key elements in the development of downtown. You'll see a big difference when this project is done. It's going to be a nice-looking project."

Ironsmith noted as well that Pinellas County is financing 56 percent of the project. Construction is expected to get underway July 5 and be completed before November.

That said, the commission voted to approve the Main Street sidewalk project.

In other business, Tornga, a former Marine Corps officer in the Vietnam War, proposed that the city designate a portion of Stirling Park, 620 Palm Blvd., for a veterans park, noting that Dunedin is one of the only cities in Pinellas County that doesn't have a park specifically designated for veterans.

"We have a tremendous history of military service in Dunedin and a large number of veterans live here," Tornga said.

He said he's been approached by a number of veterans questioning why there's no veterans park "where we can gather and celebrate their lives. I'm not sure why we haven't done it before."

Mayor Julie Ward Bujalski said she knows the answer.

While Dunedin doesn't have a veterans park per say, it does have a park dedicated to Purple Heart recipients at 300 Main St. containing a monument and commemorative brick walk; a can't-miss archway designed by architect Jeff Smith over Broadway Avenue at Main Street that reads, "Defending Freedom;" a Dunedin Post 2550 Veterans of Foreign Wars memorial in the parking lot of the Dunedian marina; a Vietnam memorial at the Dunedin High School stadium; and a memorial on Douglas Avenue in honor of the LTV amphibious landing vehicle, which was designed and built in Dunedin and played a major role in World War II.

Bujalski said the city is still reviewing feedback on Stirling Park after surveying 1,282 residents, with the majority in favor of building pickleball courts at the park. The survey was followed by a meeting on Jan. 4 attended by 200 residents.

Bujalski said the city is still processing all those suggestions.