The Algood City Council requested a revised street paving plan after discovering that initial bids for several city roads far exceeded the current budget.
Algood Vice Mayor Luke Hill said the Public Works Department needs to prioritize which streets are in most dire need of repaving. Hill said the department should include public input into the equation following comments from citizens during Tuesday’s City Council meeting.
“Surely to God there’s, you know, you can itemize them and rank them as to this street is just doing bad and we need to address it now versus these can wait until the next next budgetary cycle,” Hill said.
Public Works Director Walt Bradshaw said the city received two bids for a comprehensive list of paving projects, with the lowest coming in at $503,500 from Rogers Group. Bradshaw said the city only has $145,000 specifically budgeted for street paving in the current fiscal year.
“I guess what we need to do is decide, you know, which ones we want to do,” Bradshaw said.
The council reviewed costs for several locations, including Williams Circle, Mirandy Road, Dry Valley Road, and a dip on Main Street near Walmart.
Local residents Calvin Hayes and Corey Mullins said the city should also consider the condition of RC Buck Road and Riley’s Path, noting that some areas have not been touched in years. Hayes and Mullins also called attention to the road conditions near the local block plant.
“I would love to see you know your recommendation as to what streets need it now,” Hill said to Bradshaw. “I mean because there’s there’s going to be different levels of of of attention that these streets need.”
Bradshaw said the damage is caused by heavy truck traffic leaving the plant, and to repair the road again with asphalt would be a waste of resources. Bradshaw said the city is currently in discussions with the business about using concrete for those specific areas because asphalt and rock are repeatedly pushed out by the weight of the trucks.
The council voted to table the paving bid to allow Bradshaw time to rank the streets by priority and include the additional roads mentioned during the meeting. Hill said he was hesitant to award the current bid if the money might be better spent addressing the structural issues near the block plant first.
Bradshaw said the paving companies can typically mobilize quickly once a bid is awarded and a one-month delay would not put the department in a bind. The revised plan is expected to be presented at the August meeting.
