Kewanee council approves $600,000 street maintenance plan over lone dissent

The Kewanee City Council approved a $600,000 street maintenance plan funded with Motor Fuel Tax dollars on Aug. 26 after brief debate over which streets would receive work.

City Manager Gary Bradley told the council that engineers raised the project amount from an initial $500,000 to $600,000 and distributed a map showing the streets slated for sand seal and hot mix asphalt. Bradley said the selected streets are the worst in the council’s targeted quadrant and were chosen to avoid excavation tied to lead line replacement, which would increase costs and project scope.

Councilmember Faber challenged the approach, saying the dollar amount is too large for “so few streets” on the map and asking why the city was not prioritizing streets with the greatest need. Faber urged a clearer strategy that ties street work to a map of known lead lines; Bradley replied staff does not have a comprehensive map of lead lines and is awaiting more information and potential grant opportunities from the State.

After discussion, the council approved the resolution authorizing the Motor Fuel Tax expenditure 4-1, with Faber the only dissenting vote.

The resolution (Bill 24-86) directs the use of Motor Fuel Tax funds for this year’s street maintenance work; the council did not adopt a separate comprehensive lead-line replacement plan at the meeting. Staff said it is continuing to refine locations and funding options and will share further details as grant guidance and engineering plans are finalized.

The council’s next steps include finalizing contracts and scheduling the work; no timeline was adopted at the meeting.