Street repairs continue to dominate and create tension at Granite Shoals City Council meetings, including the most recent held Tuesday, Oct. 26, at City Hall.
Councilors approved spending an additional $209,947 for asphalt surfacing on Churchill, Kingswood, Valley Way, Hillcrest, South Lake, Forest Hills, and Shorewood Downs. The money will come from the city’s reserve account, which contains more than $1.7 million.
The total amount of the contract with Fuquay Inc., the company hired to do the street work, is $525,292.20, an amount within $20 of what staff told the council during a May meeting the project would cost if done by an outside contractor.
At the time, the council opted to go with the in-house price based on information given to them by City Manager Jeff Looney. He said the intention was for city employees to lay the asphalt with rented equipment. City staff projected a cost of $350,000 if done in house.
At Tuesday’s meeting, however, Looney told councilors that city workers expressed unease about doing the projects because of a lack of experience. In addition, he and Assistant City Manager Peggy Smith struggled to find the necessary road equipment to rent.
At a City Council meeting Oct. 12, councilors asked staff members to provide written information on the additional $209,947 for the next meeting, adding they didn’t want to vote until they received more data. Smith told the council that Fuquay was scheduled to begin work on Churchill and Kingswood on Oct. 18, and the cost was within the original $350,000. That’s why Fuquay started on those streets.
On Tuesday, councilors still had questions: why those streets, why can’t the street department do the work in house, why the struggle to find the equipment, and were current staff members the right people to lead the project?
“It almost seems you waited until the end of the budget (process) to see what was left. ‘Let’s spend it,’” said Councilor Samantha Ortis, emphasizing she remains committed to repairing the streets. “Y’all’s lack of planning is failure to the citizens, failure to us … I say we wait until we get more bids.”
Looney said waiting will only mean having to pay more for street repairs later because material and gasoline costs will continue to rise.
Smith told the council the streets that were being repaired were on the list due to heavy traffic use or because they were in dire straits. Residents in those neighborhoods complained to City Hall about the condition of their streets, she added.
“What I hear is, ‘Band your neighbors together and come to City Hall, and it becomes a priority,’” Ortis said.
“The areas we’re talking about are in bad need,” Looney said. “Sherwood Downs was promised to be done before I got here. Forest Hills needs to be done and South Lake. We feel confident the streets need to be done. Through a lot of consultation with staff, these were the streets that needed to be done. We felt we got the biggest bang for the buck.”
“You were confident before you assured us this was going to happen,” Ortis replied. “I have zero confidence in your confidence.”
“If you don’t have confidence in me and you don’t want me here, then so be it,” Looney answered. “I take full blame for (where the city is right now with street repair). I do have full confidence in these guys to do it. They realized we’d take a lot of heat.”
In other business, the council named resident Anita Hisey, a former councilor and a current Planning and Zoning commissioner, as the 2021 recipient of the John Rinehart Memorial Award for Outstanding Community Service. Other nominees included former Mayor Carl Brugger and resident Pat Bradshaw. Hisey will be honored at a later date.
The council also went into executive session to discuss payment to Looney on relocation expenses. After the council returned to open session, Mayor Will Skinner asked Looney “to put together some documents to fulfill contractual obligations.” The matter will be taken up at a future meeting. Looney was hired in September 2018.
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October 28, 2021 at 02:39AM
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Granite Shoals councilors grapple with city staff over street repairs - DailyTrib.com
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