Newberg committee weighs gravel roads, ADA ramps, equipment consortium and red-light cameras
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Summary
At the Feb. 10 Rate Review Committee meeting, staff outlined road-repair priorities including slurry/crack sealing, 50 ADA ramps required for grind-and-inlay work, the high cost of paving gravel streets, and a possible regional equipment consortium; red-light camera revenue is being used for debt reduction.
City staff told the Rate Review Committee on Feb. 10 that the city has accelerated road maintenance work since 2022 and is directing TOUGH/TUF funds toward slurry sealing, crack sealing and targeted grind-and-inlay projects prioritized by PACER/LIDAR data.
Speaker 3 said the city completed a 100% LIDAR scan and added PACER pavement-surface-evaluation ratings to the GIS layer so staff can prioritize sections by condition. "Alan McKeel... has managed to add all of the PACER data to the GIS layer," Speaker 3 said, noting staff can now look up PACER numbers for individual streets.
Staff emphasized constraints. Speaker 3 said the city must build about 50 ADA ramps before doing grind-and-inlay on many blocks and estimated each ramp costs about $8,000–$10,000, which raises overall program costs. For fully constructing unimproved gravel streets, staff estimated roughly $2.5–3.0 million would be required to build approximately 1.5 miles of road; those costs exceed the current TOUGH fund’s repair-only mandate.
On equipment, staff estimated capital machinery (rollers, grinders, paving machine) would cost about $1.7 million and said Newberg alone cannot absorb that investment. Speaker 3 encouraged exploring an intergovernmental consortium or shared-service model with neighboring jurisdictions to buy equipment and share depreciation and staff costs.
The committee also discussed red-light and speed cameras. Staff reported the red-light cameras went live in January, early cases have entered the court calendar, and camera revenue is being applied toward debt reduction and to remove a communications-officer line from billing. Staff reiterated the primary goal is safety, not revenue.
Speaker 3 and committee members raised questions about grant eligibility (some federal grants require recent master plans), the administrative burden of tiered rate structures, and equity for fixed-income residents; staff said utility-billing supports, nonprofit partnerships and limited discount slots are available to assist vulnerable households.
Ending: Staff and the committee agreed to use PACER/GIS prioritization and public input at the upcoming town hall to refine the program; no formal policy changes were adopted at this meeting.