The Gladewater City Council has asked a consulting, management, engineering company to provide a proposal by May regarding performing a study of the city’s streets and infrastructure.
The goal is for the city to develop a long-range plan for street improvements in Gladewater.
City Manager Sean Pate said the city set aside $170,000 for a streets program in its 2011-12 budget with at least $150,000 being dedicated to street repairs. With the city planning to have a director of public works in place by June, Pate said it is important for the council to decide now how to proceed.
Lanny Buck, principal with KSA Engineers of Longview, said the firm reviewed the city’s maps and determined Gladewater has 48 miles of water line. The cost is about $50-$75 per foot to dig up and replace the lines.
“You’ve got a $30 million investment in the ground,” Buck said.
While the council acknowledged Gladewater does not have $30 million to spend to replace everything, members said the situation would not get better until the city starts somewhere. The council said they could seek grants or take out a loan to get started on repairs.
The study provided by KSA Engineers would show the council where the worst areas are in the city, Buck said.
The council asked the company to return to its regular meeting May 17 with a cost for doing the study. The study itself would take several months.
Pate said the city intends to do work on Gay Avenue with funds from the 2011-12 budget and could earmark the remainder of the money for the 2012-13 budget as funds that could be used toward additional repairs once the study is completed. He added the city could “comfortably” set aside $200,000 annual from water, sewer and streets for repairs.
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