Council votes 10-2 to OK $700G to move Riverwalk Boardwalk project forward

IS RIVERWALK A BRIDGE TOO FAR? Finance Director Mark Sullivan gestures while trying to explain the convoluted financials of the Riverwalk, the Boardwalk and the Overlook (Council screenshot)

ROCHESTER - It may very well be the epitome of the "impossible dream," but despite that the City Council voted 10-2 to approve $700,000 in taxpayer funds to move forward with the so-called Riverwalk Boardwalk project that is hoped to one day create "a loop" from the former St. Elizabeth Seton School to a future footbridge bridge across the Cocheco River to the downtown and back to Bridge Street.
Following a long and sometime confusing presentation by finance director Mark Sullivan multiple council members including Tim Fontneau, Les Horne and Kevin Sullivan said they hadn't learned many of the details of the financials regarding the redevelopment of the former Catholic school property until Tuesday.
Kevin Sullivan said early on during council discussion that his constituents had many concerns with the amount of money being spent, and that he could not support the project at this time, though he personally thought it might be good for the city.
Residents who spoke during a public hearing on the proposal to spend another $700,000 to build the boardwalk said city officials were trying to rush the council into a vote without doing their due diligence.

"I am against this craziness," resident Bill Gauthier fumed. "This was supposed to be privately funded. "I'm 100 percent against this."
"Can we clear up the funding?" questioned Raymond Wayman. "Do we know what the real price is? And what's the benefit to taxpayers?"
City councilor-elect Susan Rice called the numbers "misleading" and said not enough engineering of the project had been done in order to determine the ultimate cost.
The Riverwalk boardwalk project would run along the 16 Bridge St. river bank down to Fownes Mills and terminate along the shoreline of Fownes Mills property, with future plans to build a footbridge across the river to the Wyandotte Falls area.
While city officials including the mayor and deputy mayor are fully backing the boardwalk, they also note that there will be a need for a retaining wall, which could be "an extremely challenging and expensive endeavor, if not impossible."
Councilors Sullivan and Horne were the only ones to vote no.
In other business, the council OK'd an all-way stop on Route 202 at the intersection of Meaderboro and Estes roads.
They also unanimously approved a 79-E tax break for five years for a mixed-use apartment building at 38 Hanson St.