But zoning officials expressed elation over the unanimous support extended by the House for the project’s implementation.
“The House’s adoption of the resolution is very encouraging. The board truly appreciates the action of the House,” stated Zoning Board Chairman Henry S. Hofschneider in an e-mail to the Variety.
He added: “Without a doubt, there seems to be a consensus among [the stakeholders] that the most important and beautiful scenic drive on Saipan need improvements to make it even more attractive, convenient, easy to use, protect the shoreline and waters, and foot-traffic friendly.”
Zoning Board Administrator Victor Barrett agreed. “I and the board are very pleased with the support we have received from the Legislature for the project,” he said.
“As soon as we get word from the Energy Division on the status of our grant we are ready to move forward with public meetings and planning activities. We are waiting eagerly for word,” Barrett added.
The House resolution urged for a cooperative and coordinated action among government agencies to achieve as well as aggressively compete for available federal funding for the Beach Road Corridor Improvement Plan.
Hofschneider said the “scaling down of the plan based on availability of funds or budget projection is a better approach than abandoning the plan altogether.”
He added: “Bottom line [is], Beach Road needs to be improved so that it could be used by both pedestrians and motorists.”
For his part, Barrett said “because the [proposed] budget for the grant was reduced, we will need to work extra hard to get to where we need to so we can secure additional federal funding for engineering and construction, which was cut out of the original grant due to competing agencies and projects submitted to the Energy Division.”
The House reduced the project’s funding to $680,000 from $1.6 million, saying that other projects and programs are tapping into the same portion of the $9.6 million in Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant awarded by the U.S. Department of Energy to the CNMI.
