Question: I want to know what happened to the money the state gave Coos Bay several years ago for road repairs for Eastside and up to Allegany.
Answer: It’s been socked away to earn interest so the city of Coos Bay can pay for street repairs. The problem is interest rates are so low, there isn’t any money to work on roads in Eastside.
The city received $4.8 million from the state when it took over maintenance of Ocean Boulevard and parts of Fourth Street, Central Avenue, Empire Boulevard and the Coos River Highway.
One of the first projects the city tackled was paving on Ocean, which forced the city to take out a loan several years ago, said Jim Hossley, the city’s public works director.
The city is paying about $118,000 a year until 2013 to pay off the debt.
The city had enough interest to do some paving on Ocean last year and Fourth Street the year before, but there isn’t enough to do any projects this year.
Once the interest rate increases, the city plans to repair stretches of Central Avenue and along the Coos River Highway.
“It’s on our radar as the funding increases,” he said.