Mount Vernon City Council on Aug. 13 authorized professional services agreements to update the city’s pavement preservation plan and to design the 2025 overlay project.

Public Works staff told council the pavement preservation update will reassess about 187 centerline miles of streets, collecting visual data and assigning pavement condition index (PCI) scores to street segments. The study will use the updated data to produce a strategic five‑year preservation plan and recommend cost‑effective techniques such as slurry seal or overlays to keep pavements in the "good to fair" PCI range.

Frank Reinert, public works project manager, said the field assessment and survey work are scheduled to begin late August or September, and that consultants were selected after a public solicitation. Applied Pavement Technologies was recommended and selected to perform the pavement preservation update after the city received three statements of qualifications; staff said two submittals scored poorly and Applied Pavement Technologies best met the city’s needs.

For the 2025 overlay project, staff recommended hiring Pertit Incorporated for civil engineering and design services for specific streets identified as candidates for overlay. Reinert said the overlay work typically strips off the top one to two inches of pavement and will include limited Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ramp improvements and crosswalk reestablishment on Old Highway 99.

Council members asked about consultant billing rates and how the city controls cost risk for professional services contracts; staff explained that invoices are hourly and billed against fixed rates in the contract and that council will see contract amendments if rates or not‑to‑exceed caps change over time.

Both professional services agreements were approved by motion. The pavement preservation update will inform prioritized projects and budget planning for the next five years.

Why it matters: a comprehensive, up‑to‑date PCI assessment lets the city apply the most cost‑effective treatments before pavements fall into the ‘‘poor’’ category where full reconstruction is more costly.