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Huntersville public-works staff urge more Powell-Bill spending to speed resurfacing; propose added crews
Summary
Public Works presented resurfacing math and recommended supplementing Powell Bill allocations to raise resurfacing from about 11 miles this year toward 12–14 miles annually, reducing the resurfacing cycle to roughly 20 years; staff also requested four new operations positions and one fleet mechanic to increase in-house capacity.
Public Works staff told the Huntersville board the town's current resurfacing pace and aging assets require increased investment and capacity.
Kevin (Public Works) presented a multi-year Powell (POW) Bill allocation graphic and unit estimates for resurfacing. On a sample per-mile breakdown he cited $50,000 for milling, $45,000 for localized patching and about $175,000 for two inches of new asphalt; using staff’s system-wide totals he said resurfacing all 255 miles would cost “just shy of $70,000,000.” Based on the FY26 Powell Bill allocation the town resurfaced about 11 miles this year (above recent averages of five to nine miles). Kevin recommended supplementing Powell Bill funding so the town could resurface 12–14 miles per year, a pace that staff said would move the system toward an approximate 20-year replacement cycle rather than decades.
Kevin emphasized the practical constraints: some roads last 8–9 years, others 25 or more depending on traffic and loading; a large cohort of streets built during the same boom era will reach end of life around the same time, generating a surge in demand for resurfacing.
To deliver more work in-house and reduce contractor reliance, Public Works requested four additional operations positions (to create a dedicated crew for sidewalks/landscape/street maintenance) and one additional fleet-maintenance position to handle an expanding vehicle and equipment inventory (staff reported maintaining more than 400 pieces of equipment). Kevin said the new positions would increase flexibility to keep routine maintenance from being deferred when crews are assigned to CIP delivery.
Staff framed the resurfacing recommendation as a policy choice tied to budget priorities for FY27 and requested the board consider the staffing and funding trade-offs during the budget process.
