Yesterday, Pensacola City Administrator Eric Olson didn’t meet with the residents of the Tanyard neighborhood, but he did meet with City Councilwoman Sherri Myers.
Myers said that Olson brought up the Tanyards and the Government Street Stormwater Project and told her that there was a lot of misinformation out there about the project. He brought up the soil not being contaminated.
Olson also told her that the project is over budget, and he has had to pull money from other stormwater projects around the city, including her district.
Myers said the city administrator offered few details, other than to say the heavy equipment would be removed by this weekend.
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The possibility of soil contamination is not the major concern of the Tanyard residents. It’s public safety and their quality of life. They haven’t been able to sleep or enjoy their yards because heavy equipment has run 24/7. Dump trucks line their streets on weekends and through the night.
It took Mayor Ashton Hayward four days to release the soil test results from October 2016.
The best way to deal with “misinformation” is to be transparent, meet with the residents, hold a press conference, answer questions… Olson hasn’t done any of that.
Instead he sacrificed the quality of life of Tanyard neighborhood to save money without any input from the community.
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BTW: The City’s website doesn’t mention anything about cost overruns and still states the project will be completed.