Road resurfacing project moves forward

The next phase of the street resurfacing project is moving forward the Enterprise City Councilmembers were told at the council work session Sept. 7.

City Engineer and Director of Public Works Barry Mott and Consulting Engineer Glenn Morgan gave those attending the council meeting a road resurfacing update about the 17.5 miles of 56 roads in the project.

Mott said that the resurfacing project is ready to be let out for bid. “We are making sure that if the bid comes in over budget that we have a contingency plan,” he said. “The roads we have picked rated a Pavement Condition Index—PCI—rating of 20 or less and have a low chance of having utility issues.”

What roads most needed repair and in what order were they to be repaired was the subject of a “2020 Road Evaluation Study” presented to the city council by Barge Design Solutions in April 2020.

In that study some 200 miles of city streets were evaluated through use of a Mobile Asset Collection vehicle which combined multiple engineering technologies to collect real-time pavement data to include rutting, raveling, bleeding, weathering, linear cracking, roadway edge, potholing and patching.

The PCI Index rating is based on a 0 to 100 scale where 0 represents a failed roadway condition and 100 represents an excellent roadway condition. From that analysis report, it was determined that the average PCI rating for the city roads was a 49.

Mott said that Morgan will have the final plans for review next week and that they expect to start advertising for bids on Sept. 22. “By state law we have to advertise that for three weeks and right now we are looking at opening bids Oct. 12, presenting them to the council Oct. 19 and moving forward with construction immediately thereafter.”

Mott said that the roads in this project are from each of the city’s five districts. “Our intent is to tackle the worst roads first but what we don’t want to do is pave a road knowing that we have a high potential of breakage of a water line,” he told the council. “We’re trying to make sure we’re using our money efficiently and wisely.

“This is just the next phase,” Mott said. “There are more streets to come and there are streets in each district.”

In unrelated business, the council voted to table any decision on a food truck ordinance and an updated business license schedule. “I think it is important to gather additional feedback,” said Council President Turner Townsend. The ordinances will come before the council at the next meeting at which time the council may vote to suspend the rules and vote on them or carry over a decision until the first meeting in October.

In other business, the council approved the recommendation of City Administrator Johnathan Tullos to apply for the Alabama League of Municipalities Economic Development Academy. Communities that apply are required to send at least two councilmen, the mayor and up to two other city personnel to attend the four mandatory sessions throughout the year long academy. “This is a strategic planning initiative on how to take the community forward to the next level,” he said.

The council approved the request of the Disabled American Veterans Chapter 9 for a Vet Day 5K and 1 Mile Fun Run Saturday, Oct. 23, from 7 a.m. until 1 p.m.

The council also approved the request of Tourism Director Tammy Doerer to close West College Street from Main Street to Railroad Street for Girls Night Out Saturday, Oct. 2, from 3 until 9:30 p.m.

The next meeting of the Enterprise City Council is Tuesday, Sept. 21, in the council chambers at Enterprise City Hall. A work session begins at 5 p.m. A voting meeting is at 6 p.m. Both meetings are open to the public.