By Beacon Staff
In the end, removing the concrete stage attached to the Port of Burlington proved too expensive a venture for the Burlington City Council.
The council unanimously voted against a resolution to remove the stage during its regular meeting on Monday night, April 18, just a week after discussing the benefits of removing it during a council work session.
“I’m the one who brought this up. So, I’m willing to vote it down tonight, with the intent that we still look at the project, to look at a bid from a local contractor,” mayor Jon Billups said during the meeting.
Council members agreed that the spalling and cracking stage should be removed and possibly replaced with parking or space for entertainment acts.
However, justifying the cost without a definitive end goal did not make sense.
Billups said the council can revisit the issue with a vote on a more complete plan in the future.
“As far as projects go in the city, removing the stage, even if we don’t use it, it is very low on the list. I feel like there’s a lot of other needs we need to address,” councilman Matt Rinker.
The tipping point that turned the council against the stage removal came when Rinker said it could cost as much as $200,000 to raze the stage and repair the area after it is removed.
Despite hundreds of Facebook comments condemning the plan, no one from the public attended Monday’s meeting to speak for or against it.
During last week’s work session, assistant city manager for public works Nick MacGregor presented an $85,000 estimate to remove the stage.
That estimate included concrete and rebar removal and the removal of a power transformer.
It did not include repair of the area, and MacGregor said Rinker’s overall estimate isn’t far off. MacGregor said it could cost somewhere between $100,000 and $200,000.
Regardless of what happens in the future, Billups said the tile plaque that runs the length of the stage and commemorates its construction will be preserved. He said disrepair to the stage, consisting of spalling and cracking, has already damaged one of the tiles.
The stage was paid for by the now-defunct Burlington Steamboat Days committee, and Billups noted that his father, Ron Billups, is one of the names on that plaque.
“Steamboat Days runs in my blood,” Billups said, noting this he is a past volunteer, board chairman, and foundation president for BSD.
Mike O’Neil, the executive director of Burlington Riverfront Entertainment, spoke at the meeting and confirmed that he has never used the stage for concerts.
In other news, the council approved changes to the solid waste ordinance that makes it unlawful to dump in business or commercial dumpsters without the owner’s express consent.
This enables the owner to press charges and gives the police more authority to enforce the ordinance.