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Chester council reviews $83,502 in county liquid-fuel applications for 2024—and 2025 resurfacing; street list to be provided
Summary
The council reviewed two motions to apply for county liquid-fuel tax funds—$40,194 for 2025 resurfacing and $43,308 deferred from 2024—and discussed which streets will be covered and limits on using CDBG for certain blocks.
At the March 24 deliberative meeting, the City of Chester reviewed two resolutions authorizing applications for county liquid-fuel tax funds: $40,194 for the 2025 street-resurfacing program and $43,308 identified as 2024 funds to be deferred to 2025.
City staff said the 2025 repaving program is currently set to include Melrose and a few small streets in the Sunhill/Sun Village area; staff committed to provide council members with a specific street list. "The '24 liquid fuels funds are being deferred to 2025, and we're using the 2025, this year as well," a staff member said.
Councilors asked why the liquid-fuel amounts vary year to year. The city solicitor explained county and municipal liquid-fuel allocations vary with state-collected gas-tax revenue; he said trends in fuel efficiency and electric vehicles have reduced revenues in recent years. "Both the county's and the city's liquid fuel amount varies on the tax that's collected from the state," the solicitor said.
Council members raised concerns about long-troubled blocks such as Wells (referred to as "Wall" and "Wells" in discussion) Street, which councilors say are not eligible for Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding under HUD rules because they do not meet CDBG—eligibility criteria tied to primary residential status. The solicitor stated, "Part of the problem also is that we primarily have used in the past community development block grant funding to do street resurfacing. And unfortunately, Wells Street over town does not qualify for use of CDBG funds. Why? Because HUD says so." As a result, councilors were told repairs to that block would need to come from the general fund, capital-improvement fund or liquid-fuel funds, none of which were allocated to that block in the 2025 budget.
Councilors asked about the likely cost to reconstruct a heavily damaged block. Staff said costs vary widely depending on needed milling, base repair, or switching to concrete, and estimated that a concrete rebuild for a single block could run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars; a standard mill-and-overlay would be less but depends on subsurface conditions.
No formal votes on the liquid-fuel applications were recorded during the deliberative meeting; the resolutions were listed for the council's next public meeting. Staff said they would return with a specific list of streets targeted for the 2025 resurfacing program so councilors can better assess priorities and funding sources.
