Low Bids Prompt Woodbury To Add To 2011 Roadwork

Less than an hour after the Woodbury City Council approved assessments for a series of major road projects this year, the list got a little longer.

Because of a bidding market favorable to the city, council members decided to add another section of road to what staffers have described as an “ambitious” summer for street improvements.

Courtly Road, from Lake Road to Century Avenue, will see work later this summer, as the council approved the $480,000 project Wednesday night.

Councilman Paul Rebholz thanked staff members for putting the project on the fast track and also the timing of the work—closer to fall when fewer people will be using the road to access nearby and its beach.

The road handles about 2,3500 vehicles a day, City Engineer Klayton Eckles said, and doing the project now, while prices for such work are at “historic lows,” will save the city money in the future. Sections of the street are between 0-21 on the city’s 0-100 pavement-condition index, he said.

Rebholz said he usually doesn’t see spending money as a method of saving, but that’s the case here. He said the city would save $75,000 to $100,000 by completing the project this year.

Properties in the area will be assessed for about $120,000 of the project cost, Eckles said. Much of that—about $87,000—will be spread across four businesses in the area. That information led to some discussion about assessments for Lake Road last year—some of those businesses had to pay for that work; some didn’t.

Council members were concerned that the businesses left off the assessment roll during last year’s Lake Road work got “freebies.” The amount that wasn't assessed last year was picked up by the city, Eckles said.

An assessor will determine how much each property for this year's project benefits and they will be assessed accordingly.

The city should take a look at its policy regarding assessments, Eckles said, stressing that it’s an art and a science and there will always be some interpretation of the policy. The assessment policy was last updated about four years ago, he said.

The council only approved the project; a hearing on assessments will be held at a later date.