Bentonville Council Approves $300,000 Budget Adjustment For Streets

BENTONVILLE -- The City Council provided the Street Department with nearly $300,000 Tuesday to help repair roads deteriorating because of heavy traffic and rough weather.

The council approved a $297,325 budget adjustment to the department's overlay line item to assist with asphalt cost.

At A Glance

Overlay Projects

The 10 street overlay projects include:

• Southwest Tater Black Road from Southwest Second Street to Town Vu Road

• Tunbridge Drive from Southwest Eighth Street to Southwest 14th Street

• Southwest Eighth Street from Southwest Brighton Drive to Southwest Elm Tree Road

• Southeast A Street from Southeast Second Street to East Central Avenue

• Benton Street from Southeast 11th Street to Southeast 13th Street

• Southeast Riviera Road from Medical Center Parkway to Southwest Walton Boulevard

• East Battlefield Boulevard from East Central Avenue to the city limits

• Northeast B Street from Northeast Second Street to Northeast Blake Street

• Tiger Boulevard from Northeast J Street to Northwest A Street

• Northwest Third Street from Old Forge Drive to Coachlight Drive

Source: Bentonville Street Department

At A Glance

Council Action

Bentonville’s City Council met Tuesday and approved :

• A lot split for Jayhawk Industrial Park at 2600 and 2608 Southeast J Street.

• Amending sidewalk regulations.

• An enterprise license agreement with ESRI for $35,000.

• Declaring three Police Department pistols as surplus.

• Declaring transport and disposal of biosolids produced by the wastewater treatment plant a professional service.

• Spending $22,344 for a forklift for the Inventory Control Department.

• Spending $42,000 for a cab and chassis from Landers McLarty.

• An agreement with the Bentonville/Bella Vista Trail Blazers for a donation of land next to the Crystal Bridges Trail and land as part of the Wishing Spring Trail.

• Agreement with Benton County for ambulance services in the county.

Source: Staff Report

"This past year some of our roads were expedited in the maintenance needs because of the snow and ice events that have occurred," Tony Davis, street manager, wrote in a memo to council members.

The city's growth and increase in traffic has also contributed to road deterioration, Davis told council members.

The Street Department is expecting to need $647,323 for 10 overlay projects this year, according to department estimates. It had $350,000 for it in the 2014 budget.

Repairs range in length from 300 feet on Southeast A Street from Southeast Second Street to East Central Avenue to 4,442 feet on East Battlefield Boulevard from East Central Avenue to the city limit.

The 10 projects cover 3.7 miles. The estimated price for asphalt is $85 per ton.

The last time the Street Department repaired that much road was in 2009 when it overlaid 4.03 miles. There has been a continuous decrease since then from 3.96 miles in 2010 to 1.95 miles in 2013.

Though the amount of asphalt needed has decreased, money spent has increased as the cost of asphalt has nearly doubled since 2009.

The price per ton has steadily increased from $46.55 per ton in 2009 to the estimated $85 per ton this year.

The 4 miles repaired in 2009 cost $298,277, where as the 3.7 miles of road on this year's list is expected to cost $647,323.

Leah Williams and Roger Thomas, council members, expressed concern to Davis and Mike Churchwell, transportation director, about how underestimated the $350,000 budgeted amount was.

The Street Department has stuck to the overlay budget in the past, Churchwell said. He told council members there was a chance they would see that line item increase in the 2015 budget because asphalt costs continue to increase.

"The price is going up, but what we're being able to do is going down," he said. "So either we cut back on the overlay program or increase the budget, one of the two."

It should take about two months to finish the projects, Davis said Monday. Streets will operate with one lane while work is done. There may be some temporary closings, but none will last all day, he said.

Some projects have been on the to-do list for a couple years, and some were added after the snow and ice melted this year.

"Moisture gets into cracks. The freeze-thaw cycle creates minor potholes," Davis explained. "It's just a consequence of weather."

Snow, ice and cold kept students in Bentonville Public Schools out of class for 13 days this winter season. There were days where city offices were closed or operated with modified hours.

In March the council gave the department $63,000, $12,500 for petroleum and $50,500 for maintenance. The department had spent about $22,000 of its $47,000 budget for petroleum and about $67,000 of the $100,000 budgeted for street maintenance, Davis said in March.

NW News on 04/23/2014

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