COMMUNITY GUIDE macon.com NEWS Local/State News The AP Wire Editorials Sports Business Features Obituaries Straight Talk Just Go! RealBooks Comics Crosswords KRT Interactive Weather Newspaper In Education CLASSIFIEDS Real Estate Employment Announcements Services Merchandise Automobiles Legal Ads SERVICES Yellow Pages The Daily Ads CarHunter JobHunter Apartment Hunter Datemaker Straight Talk Forums RealBeanies Headbone Zone NewsHound RESOURCES NewsLibrary Archives Internet Access Contact Us About Us   Board nixes wider role for Kulash on roads Neighborhood-friendly engineer limited to Ingleside, Wesleyan By Randall Savage The Macon Telegraph To appease the concerns of neighborhood groups and build public trust, it was suggested Thursday that neighborhood-friendly traffic engineer Walter Kulash should help with the remainder of the $300 million city-county road improvement program. The idea drew initial support from Bibb County Commission Chairman Larry Justice, but ultimately it was shot down. "This is excellent," Justice said when Tom Moreland made the suggestion to the road improvement program's executive committee. Moreland is the principal engineer for Moreland Altobelli & Associates, Inc., the firm hired to manage the road program. Justice said Moreland's proposal goes "way beyond the scope of what we discussed at the last meeting." "This demonstrates that we're listening and trying to respond to public interest," he said. Last month, the executive committee, which Justice chairs, agreed to have Kulash review and make recommendations to the proposed Wesleyan Drive and Ingleside Avenue widening projects. Kulash, of Orlando, Fla., was to be paid $5,000 for his services. But Moreland's suggestion of bringing Kulash on board throughout the road program quickly lost its momentum. Frank Pinkston, an ex-officio member of the Executive Committee and the 8th Congressional District's representative on the state Department of Transportation board, objected to having Kulash's tracks on all future road projects. Pinkston said Kulash should only be brought in on other projects when the Executive Committee gives its approval. He prevailed. In recent weeks, various neighborhood groups have accused engineers at Moreland Altobelli of being calloused, aloof and uncaring about their concerns. The neighborhood groups pushed to involve Kulash because of his reputation of being sensitive to neighborhood concerns. Moreland told the Executive Committee that he wanted to "increase the scope" of Kulash's services and solicit his help throughout the road program. He also said he wanted Kulash to report all his findings directly to the Executive Committee. Moreland said he and County Engineer Robert E. "Bob" Fountain already had agreed on a contract for Kulash. After the meeting, Carson Flourney, who attended the meeting to oppose widening a downtown street, said he heard Pinkston tell Fountain that the executive committee would have trouble from him if Kulash is employed on projects other than Wesleyan and Ingleside. Pinkston could not be reached for comment. But Fountain said he understood that Pinkston merely wanted to see how Kulash handles Wesleyan and Ingleside before agreeing to let Kulash do anything else. "What I heard him say was 'let's get through Ingleside and Wesleyan before we go on with the rest of it,'" Fountain said. "Somebody else might've heard it differently, and I might have read between the lines a little bit. "But I felt that was the intent of what Frank told me." ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Public responds favorably to Poplar design. (9/04/98) Need to widen College Street intersections is questioned. (9/03/98) Road officials review Poplar design. (9/03/98) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ BACK TO TOP | BACK TO MTO FRONT PAGE ------------------------------------------------------------------------ All content© Copyright 1998 The Macon Telegraph and may not be republished without permission. Contact Us.