Town awards street resurfacing bid; Plum Tree Park playground contract returned for small play area

Public‑works staff presented two capital‑maintenance items to the Bel Air Board of Town Commissioners on May 13: the town’s annual street resurfacing contract and a request to complete playground surfacing at Plum Tree Park.

Street resurfacing: Steve Klein, a town public‑works staff member, outlined the town’s annual paving program and said the FY2026 proposal includes a contract “not to exceed $410,000,” the amount budgeted for curb and gutter repairs, street resurfacing and curb ramp construction. Klein listed the streets included in the program: Ellendale Street (Rock Spring Ave to Franklin St), Rowland Avenue (Hall St to Howard St), Gordon Street (Bond St to William St), Atwood Road (Catherine St through Shamrock Rd), Broadway (Ardmore Way to Shamrock), South Shamrock Road (East Churchill to Leeway) and South Reed Street (Bolton St to Thomas St). The contract also covers repaving the Plum Tree Park parking lot and the park’s basketball court. Klein said six bids were received and the low bidder was American Asphalt Company of Baltimore.

Plum Tree Park playground resurfacing: Kevin, a town parks staff member, explained that the park’s larger playground for ages 6–12 had already received a new safety surface under a prior contract with Cunningham Recreation, but the smaller 2–5‑year‑old playground was not included in that scope. Kevin said the cost to finish the smaller playground is $29,467 and covers removal of the old surface, installation of geotextile fabric and engineered wood fiber. Staff said they were awaiting a revised quote showing adherence to a piggyback contract before the item could be placed on the consent agenda at the town meeting; Kevin confirmed the spending was included in the current budget but had been omitted from the original contractor scope.

Board members asked practical questions — whether utility work required by private utilities would trigger repaving obligations, how enforcement works when contractors dig and patch, and whether the town or the utility is responsible for full resurfacing. Klein said utilities typically finish with a patch and the town requires full resurfacing in some cases where extensive utility work occurred; he pledged to follow up about specific streets where residents have asked questions.

Ending: Commissioners accepted staff’s presentation and asked for the revised Cunningham Recreation quote to be circulated so the Plum Tree contract could be finalized at the next council meeting; the resurfacing contract low bidder (American Asphalt Company) was identified for the board’s consideration.