Coffee County highway staff warn paving list limited by state-aid shortfall; bridge choice looms

Ben, a highway office staff member, told the Coffee County highway meeting the county’s remaining paving and bridge funds are limited and that staff must prioritize projects this spring.

“We got a little paving done last fall. And we will probably run out of, our line item for oil. It may be even rock by June,” Ben said, adding that the county’s fiscal year restarts July 1 and that new allotments would come then. He said the county currently has “about 250 some odd thousand dollars to pay with,” which he estimated would pave roughly “about a mile and a half a road.”

Why it matters: with limited state-aid funds and rising asphalt costs, staff said the county will have to choose which roads to finish this spring and which to defer until after the July budget cycle. Ben told the board the county previously spent a separate $3 million allocation over two years and that those funds are now exhausted.

At the meeting Ben described two bridges that compete for scarce bridge funding. He said the Raxton Road bridge serves substantial commercial traffic and is estimated at $1,200,000, creating “a terrible shortfall” if the county funds it from state-aid alone. By contrast, a Barrows Loop bridge qualifies for a bridge-grant program that would cover the typical 98/2 match but is limited to about $500,000. Ben summarized the tradeoff: “I’ve got to pick 1. And so I, I would like to take a chance to go ahead and do Ragstoll Road. But it's gonna be kind of a, it's gonna be kind of a gamble. The other one's not gonna be a gamble. It'll be we've got the money to pay for it.”

Staff explained timing and contractor availability as additional constraints. Ben said the county bids hot-mix asphalt once per year and that vendor schedules can shift when contractors win larger state jobs, which can make it “a little harder for them to come do our county road.” He cited Rogers Group as an example of a vendor that holds the county’s hot-mix bid for the year.

Other budget and price details discussed at the meeting included: - Remaining asphalt/state-aid balance: about $250,000 (staff estimate). - Typical annual state-aid allotment for projects: “another 200 some odd thousand” each year, according to staff. - Bridge program balances: roughly $600,000 currently available in bridge funds plus an expected additional ~$200,000 by July, totaling roughly $800,000—still short of Ben’s $1.2 million estimate for the Raxton Road bridge. - A Barrows Loop bridge on the bridge-grant program was described as a narrower, $500,000 project that would not create the same funding gamble because grant funds would cover most costs.

Staff also discussed pavement method and output: a single tank of oil supplies about a mile of tar-and-chip surface; staff estimated they could complete “11 or 12 tanks of oil” (roughly 11 miles) if weather and oil prices cooperate. Ben noted asphalt remains costly and cited a reported price of roughly $600 per ton.

Discussion and next steps: the group discussed prioritizing the roughest sections of subdivision roads (Short Springs, Carter Blake, Asbury) and possibly limited partial paving rather than full-length jobs. Ben said staff will try to complete higher-priority paving this spring and then return to the agenda after the July budget cycle to use new funds. No final allocation decision was recorded during the meeting; staff framed the choice between taking a bridge-grant-funded smaller bridge (Barrows Loop) now versus committing state-aid to the larger Raxton Road bridge and delaying other work.

Quotes in context were taken from the highway meeting transcript and speakers listed in the meeting record.

Ending: Staff said they will reassess after spring work and when the county receives the next state-aid allotment in July. The board did not take a final vote on bridge selection or a paving reallocation during this session.