Sandwich City Council votes to proceed with street pavement management system

The Sandwich City Council approved an agreement with Engineering Enterprises Inc., of Sugar Grove, to develop a pavement management system to analyze the city’s streets and design a plan for their improvement during a July 25 city council meeting.

The council voted 4-1 in favor of the agreement, with Alderman Rick Whitecotton casting the lone negative ballot. Alderwoman Rebecca Johnson was absent and Alderman Rich Robinson served as mayor pro tem in Mayor Todd Latham’s absence.

At last week’s committee of the whole meeting, the acting Sandwich city engineer and project manager with Engineering Enterprises Inc., Curt Dettmann, detailed plans for the development of the system.

First, an inventory will be taken of the about 40 miles of roadway inside the city limits. Then, a subcontracted company will do a laser profile of the streets, detecting cracks and determining their structural integrity and then rating each one on a scale of 0-100, Dettmann said.

The city also will receive a rating from 0-100, based on the condition of the city’s streets as a whole.

With that information, Dettmann said EEI will work to devise a plan for how the streets can be improved and the city’s overall street rating upgraded.

The scope of the services provided by Dettmann and EEI will cost the city $50,000. Dettman told officials the average cost for resurfacing a street is between $500,000 and $600,000 per mile.

Dettmann said the firm previously had developed similar pavement management systems for Montgomery and Yorkville, and he is confident a system will work for Sandwich.

Dettmann asked the council to consider three options for funding the system and future roadway improvements: raising the sales tax, creating a gas tax or through property taxes.

Alderman Fred Kreinbrink raised concern about the cost, noting that he has been contacted by a couple of residents who share his concern. However, Kreinbrink said he believes it would be the right move for the future for the city to proceed with the system.

“I really like this program,” Kreinbrink said. “I think this is really going to set the bar for where we’re going to stand in the next 10 years going forward.”

Kreinbrink said that although the money for a pavement management system was not in this year’s budget because of delays in other projects, he believes the money could be found and he would like to bring the agreement with EEI back for vote at the July 25 council meeting.

Alderwoman Rebecca Johnson said, though she would not be at the July 25 meeting to vote, she agreed with Kreinbrink that the city should move forward with getting the system in place to avoid missing out on future grant opportunities.