Council approves Bushnell Road engineering fee, discusses expanding 2025 street program

City Engineer Brenda Mockbee presented cost estimates and bidding options for the 2025 Street Improvement Program and asked council whether to include three alternate streets—Bromley, Canterbury and Bushnell—in the bid package. The program’s base work would cover Dysart, East Carroll and Fenwick plus crack sealing; alternates would be added as bid options depending on returned prices and available funding.

Mayor Brennan and councilmembers emphasized prioritizing the worst‑condition streets and coordinating paving with lead service line replacement projects to avoid repaving streets that will be reopened for utility work. “There is no reason to repave Carroll Boulevard this year and then to break it all open to do lead service line replacement next year,” Mayor Brennan said, arguing that sequencing should avoid redundant costs.

Finance Director Dennis Kennedy explained the current construction appropriation is approximately $593,000 and that the engineer’s proposal to expand the program would likely require an additional transfer from the general fund of roughly $300,000 to $400,000, depending on final bids. Council discussed whether alternates should be bid and then selected after bids return or removed to stay within the current budget. Several councilmembers asked the engineer to update the street ranking and confirm which streets have pending utility projects before final selection.

On a separate motion, Council approved an additional engineering fee of $27,940 to allow design and construction administration (10% of the estimated construction cost) for Bushnell Road from Miramar Boulevard to Wrenford Road so that plans can be bid as alternates.

Next steps: The engineer will prepare bid documents for the base program and alternates as directed; finance staff will prepare any necessary appropriation amendments and a potential transfer from the general fund if council elects to proceed with alternates after bids.