SILER CITY — Siler City will spend almost $370,000 over the next year to repave sections of 10 major roads — about 23% more than originally allocated in the budget for fiscal year 2021-22 — following approval by the town’s board of commissioners in its regular meeting Monday.
Repair work will include complete resurfacing at several locations plus isolated crack fills where necessary.
“Chris (McCorquodale) has been trying to receive bids now for a number of months,” Town Manager Roy Lynch said of the town’s public works and utilities director. “They’ve been slowly coming in, but we only received two.”
The lower bid, from Waugh Asphalt Inc., was $367,961.56.
“So that’s about $67,000 higher than we budgeted,” Lynch said, “which is why we’re bringing it back to the board to for a budget amendment.”
Despite some early apprehension, the commissioners voted unanimously to approve the budget amendment and to contract Waugh Asphalt.
The roads to be repaired are South Sears Avenue, East Ninth Street, North Third Street, East Tenth Street, West Dolphin Street, West Elk Street, North Glenn Avenue, North Dogwood Avenue, West Raleigh Street and Cemetery Drive.
Third Street road hearing
Siler City’s board will host a public hearing at 6:30 p.m. on August 2 in the Jordan-Matthews High School auditorium for town residents to discuss potential road closures and re-routing near Mountaire Farms.
The board scheduled the hearing last month in its first major move toward approving the poultry processor’s proposal to close and reroute portions of East Third Street, East Fifth Street and all of Johnson Avenue. Mountaire had previously approached the board with its request at least eight times, as reported by the News + Record. A timeline submitted by the company lists more than 40 total interactions between company representatives, the Town of Siler City and the N.C. Dept. of Transportation concerning the potential road closures.
Unless convinced at next month’s public hearing that road closures are contrary to the public’s best interest or the rights of nearby property owners, the commissioners will likely adopt an order to permanently re-route the streets, after which the decision will be submitted to NCDOT, which can affirm or overturn the board’s decision.
The commissioners approved replacement of the town’s travel policy for Siler City staff. A revised policy took effect on July 20.
Updated items include procedures, reimbursements and allowable expenses. Staff recommended the adjustment to standardize and simplify the process by which employees request reimbursement, Town Finance Director Tina Stroupe said. The updated policy is also designed to minimize personal liability for Siler City employees when they travel for work.
Reporter D. Lars Dolder can be reached at dldolder@chathamnr.com and on Twitter @dldolder.