FULTON – Fulton residents, and other drivers, can look forward to smoother roads in the near future.
The Common Council met with Department of Public Works Commissioner C.J. Smith Tuesday, June 25 to discuss his tentative plans to repave roads in Fulton.
Smith said by the time 2019 is done, he would like to have 38 locations. These locations would result in a little more than 25,000 feet of newly paved road throughout the city’s six wards.
Smith laid out his plan for the council and broke down which funds would be used for each section’s costs with June pricing in consideration.
He said all wards were within $10,000 of each other.
He estimated the costs to be $446,246.80 from Consolidated Local Street and Highway Improvement Program (CHIPS) funding, $89,721.70 from Pave NY, $12,849.80 from Extreme Winter Recovery, $637,637.80 from bond funding, totaling an estimated $1,186,456.10 in costs.
Some streets within the First and Sixth wards experienced washouts from last week’s flooding, so Smith added those to the list prior to the meeting.
“Those things that happened last week jumped onto the list and took precedence over some other stuff,” Smith said.
The longest stretch of area he plans to repave is Fay Street, from South Seventh Street to Soloway Avenue, totaling 2,500 feet in new road.
Since the north side of the street belongs to Fulton and the south side belongs to Volney, Smith said he plans to share the cost.
“I talked to Volney, [Town Highway Superintendent] Roger Dunsmoor and him and I are going to sit down to definitively determine – right now, I split it up like we’ll pay for the binder,” Smith said. “Half the road’s ours, so we pay for the binder and then potentially he’ll pay for the top, which is the lesser amount and then also incorporate his paver with our trucks.”
City Clerk/Chamberlain Daniel O’Brien said the council is shooting for the bond to sell July 2 and cannot commit any money until the bond sells.
Smith said he does have the option to ‘piggyback’ off the current Office of General Services contract for paving, which is a state bid contract.
With this option, it could save three to four weeks on the timeline to paving the roads because they would not have to wait for the bid process.
Following the discussion of the proposal, the council asked Smith a few other questions regarding issues around Fulton.
Fifth Ward Councilor Dennis Merlino asked about what it would cost to fix the sidewalks at Vorhees Park. O’Brien suggested using blacktop rather than the concrete slabs.
Smith agreed, saying a benefit could also be easier snow plowing because the plow would not get caught on any edges. He said he is willing to meet with Parks and Recreation to talk about it.
“There’s a lot [of the concrete slabs] that are completely decimated and I’d say at least half of them have at minimum cracks,” Merlino said.
Prior to DPW business, the council approved the sale of 215 S. First St. to Erin Valard of Cicero for $35,000. The city acquired the property through tax foreclosure proceedings.
The next scheduled Common Council meeting is July 9.
missing or outdated ad config
If blacktop is to be used to replace sidewalks the concrete must be removed. Don’t blacktop over concrete. The concrete will still rise from winter frost and ruin the blacktop.