City Council this week awarded a contract for design work for the paving of little Anderson Street, reported to be Statesboro’s last unpaved city street.

Separately, the council accepted a $439,730 supplemental state grant that expands the city’s annual street resurfacing budget to almost $1.8 million, which will be used to mend and repave 18 street segments totaling a little less than six miles.

Both items were part of the agenda for the Tuesday, April 2 council meeting. City staff recommended awarding the design services contract for the Anderson Street paving and drainage project to Cranston, an engineering firm with offices in Augusta, Georgia and Charleston and Hilton Head, South Carolina, at a “not to exceed” price of $57,775. Cranston had been the only firm to submit a proposal in response to the city of Statesboro’s published request, but the bid was allowed by the city’s Central Services office because it was for engineering services and not for material or equipment, according to a staff memo.

“The only thing I want to say to you about this is, this will be the last unpaved street in Statesboro,” City Manager Charles Penny told the mayor and council. “So we recommend approval of the $57,000, and the other part is that the property owners of the project going on down in that area, they’re actually going to provide the right of way.”

Anderson Street, currently a loose-gravel and dirt lane with splotches of grass in the middle, spans one block, from East Main Street north to Hill Street, a length of 385 feet. Cranston’s work is to include a topographic and parcel survey, preliminary cost estimate, roadway design to state and industry specifics, plus a hydrology study or stormwater management plan “addressing all drainage needs,” according to the city’s RFP document. The final project, for which construction bids will be taken later, is expected to include drainage infrastructure, as well as the street construction.

The private developer of a project east of Anderson Street “will accommodate the city” by donating right of way, the staff memo stated.

Adjacent property is being developed by Burkbank Point LLC and Venture Construction & Development LLC, Assistant City Manager Jason Boyles said Thursday. Local developer Mitchell Ball is involved in both of these companies, according to the Georgia corporate registration.

Some single-family homes are currently under construction immediately to the east of Anderson Street and along Hill Street. But the property further east, between East Main and Hill Streets “where the current vegetable stand is located” is also part of the “the overall development intent of the property,” city Planning and Housing Administrator Justin Williams replied in an email.

“That particular piece of property will be a cottage court utilized as an infill option,” Williams wrote, noting that this was made possible under the city’s new Unified Development Code regulations.

That proposal is on track to be presented to the City Council April 16.

“We are hopeful that these types of infill options can be helpful in creating new affordable homes in our community, and help create some walkable options near our Downtown,” Williams wrote.

The Anderson Street paving project will be funded from Transportation-Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax, or T-SPLOST, revenue. The vote awarding the design contract was 5-0.

Resurfacing grants

Meanwhile, the council’s other unanimous street-related action, amending the city’s fiscal year 2024 street resurfacing program to reflect a $439,730 additional state grant through the Georgia Department of Transportation, will smooth more miles of already paved streets this summer

Each year the city receives state funds from the Georgia DOT in the form of a Local Maintenance and Improvement Grant, or LMIG, and applies this money to street resurfacing, repair and reconstruction projects. Since Bulloch County voters in a 2018 first approved a T-SPLOST, Statesboro officials have supplemented this with local sales tax money, and in fact the T-SPLOST funds used for resurfacing have far exceeded the LMIG funds.

In the current fiscal year, Statesboro was originally expected to receive $355,091.43 in LMIG, and the city budgeted exactly $1 million from T-SPLOST toward resurfacing, for a total of $1,355,091.43 for this purpose.

But with the state having accumulated a large budget surplus, the Legislature and Gov. Brian Kemp directed $1.8 billion to transportation funding in the supplemental fiscal year 2024 budget, which extends to June 30. This includes $250 million in a program called Local Road Assistance, or LRA funds. Statesboro has qualified for an additional $439,730.44, so the city now has a total of $1,794,821.87 for its resurfacing projects..

“We were pleased to receive the additional state road assistance funds from the governor’s $1.8 billion supplement in statewide transportation improvements,” Boyles said in an email. “The additional state funding will help us to maximize our local T-SPLOST funds.”

City staffers noted that although the original LMIG award was 70% state funding requiring a 30% local match, the supplemental LRA grant is 100% state funding, requiring no local match. However, this  makes little  if any  practical difference for Statesboro, which had far overmatched  the original  grant with the $1 million from T-SPLOST.

The city’s Engineering Department staff evaluates street conditions annually for the priority list that is submitted to Georgia DOT and includes some streets that require more extensive “reconstruction and resurfacing,” Public Works and Engineering Director  John  Washington noted in a  memo.

Brampton tops list

By far the most costly single project on this year’s list is the planned 0.61-mile “reconstruction and resurfacing” of Brampton Avenue  from Fair Road to Veterans Memorial  Parkway, at an estimated cost of $553,701. Cost estimates for the work on segments of other streets range from $172,484 down to $11,838.

Those other segments scheduled for resurfacing are 0.53 mile of South Edgewood Drive from Greenwood Avenue to Holly Drive; 0.41 mile of Knight Drive from Chandler Road to Lanier Drive; 0.33 mile of Gentilly Drive from Gentilly Road to Prince Way; 0.6 mile of Donaldson Street from Stillwell Street to Savannah Avenue; 0.38 mile of Windsor Way from Chelsea Circle to South Edgewood Drive; 0.41 mile of Granade Street from its terminus (end) to East Inman Street;

Hunnicutt Drive for 0.12 mile from one intersection with Soloman Circle  to the other; Scotch Pine Avenue for 0.56 mile from one intersection with Whispering Pines Boulevard to the other; also 0.56 mile of Broad Street from Savannah Avenue to Brannen Street; a 0.27-mile segment of Miller Street from North College Street to West  Parrish Street and also the 0.05-mile of Miller Street from North Main Street to North College Street; 0.14 mile of Harwood Street from Fleming Drive  to Kingswood Avenue and 0.13 mile of Bedford Street, also from Fleming Drive  to Kingswood Avenue;

Best Street for 0.29 mile from its terminus to Braswell Street; 0.07 mile of Lewis Street from East Olliff Street to Orange Street; 0.08 mile of Simmons Lane from Mathews Road to Mincey Street; and 0.19 mile of Orange Street, starting and ending at East Olliff Street.

The 18 segments add up to 5.72 linear miles

As in past years, city staff selected the projects so that there are some in each of the five City Council districts. The big Brampton Avenue project is the only one in District 5 this year.