The city will pay up to $1.5 million from the general fund for preliminary reports from Cobb, Fendley & Associates Inc.; RPS Infrastructure Inc.; Kimley-Horn & Associates Inc.; BGE Inc.; Lockwood, Andrews & Newman Inc.; and American Structurepoint Inc.
“It was originally going to be a 2021 bond, but we just weren’t ready, so this entire fiscal year has been in anticipation of a road bond,” Mayor Travis Mitchell told Community Impact Newspaper.
Mitchell added that this will be the biggest bond in the city’s history to keep up with the growth as the population has nearly doubled in the past six years.
"Every project should be bigger than the project before, because we're not the little town we used to be," Mitchell said. "We absolutely need to build roads—not just any roads, well-engineered roads."
The city’s previous road bond in 2013 was $36 million for work on five roads. The 2022 bond could be about double the amount of road projects and will either upgrade existing roads or construct new extensions, according to agenda documents.
While there is no confirmed amount the bond could be yet, Mitchell speculated at the council meeting it would probably be around $100 million.
The preliminary engineering reports will gather information regarding project challenges and opportunities; develop a preliminary schedule for project development; refine cost estimates; and more.
“The goal is twice the roads in half the time from the 2013 bond,” Mitchell said.
