Assistant City Manager Steve Bergstresser said the next and final phase of improvements approved by the city council this week includes new landscaping, clay pavers, lighted bollards, benches and other hardscape features around the roundabout within the main entrance on Forrer Boulevard.
There will also be landscape mounds along Forrer between Wilmington Pike and the roundabout, a new marquee sign and wayfinding signs.
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Kettering resident Sterling Abernathy questioned the project’s cost during this week’s council meeting.
“Think about that: $675,000 of landscaping along two tenths of a mile,” he said. “What will the city spend that $675,000 on?”
Abernathy said more than $200,oo0 will be spent on landscape berms, mounds, trees, shrubs, grass, mulch and irrigation.
“Don’t forget electrical work, including three new pedestrian-scale light poles, for $38,750,” Abernathy said.
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Abernathy said there have not been adequate price controls for the project.
“It’s not surprising that when you put a group of people in a room, ask them what they would like to have, and they don’t have to pay for it, the answer will be extravagant. That’s what this project is,” he said.
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Bergstresser explained that both phases of the business park improvement are well documented as part of the city’s plan to improve infrastructure.
Mayor Don Patterson said the improvements will serve the business community that uses the park well.
“Continued reinvestment in the Kettering Business Park is critical to support the growing number of employers that call the business park home,” he said.
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