Work to begin soon on street, sidewalk repairs

Fort Scott, Kan. -- A 10-year, $6 million plan to repair many damaged and deteriorating streets and sidewalks within the city should get started by early next year, Fort Scott City Manager Joe Turner said.

The Street and Sidewalk Capital Improvement Program, slated to be part of the city's 2009 budget, will use $600,000 in bond money each year for the next 10 years to pay for improvements to streets and sidewalks throughout town, Turner said.

"This is $600,000 in addition to $250,000 we have allotted for street repairs in the budget each year, so there's a possibility of a total of $750,000 being spent on our streets," Turner said. "The plan is a conceptual plan, and a pretty aggressive plan. We will address the details (of the plan) in September and October. We want to start bidding projects in December or January for the project to begin in early 2009."

The program, which was a topic of discussion during the Tuesday meeting of the Fort Scott City Commission, will be funded through general obligation bonds, which are issued by the state and typically come with low interest rates, Turner said.

"The state allows Fort Scott to borrow money on faith and the credit of our city," he said. "They (bonds) help to fix our infrastructure, and they will also help with the capital improvement program over a 10-year period, and sometimes over a 20-year period."

The bonds will be funded by an increase of 1.5 mills next year -- an increase that would eventually rise to 11.9 mills by 2018. The bonds would be completely funded by 2018, and the mill levy would slowly drop down to its normal rate by 2028. The current mill levy in Fort Scott is 41.6 mills, Turner said.

Assessed property valuations throughout the city would also most likely rise due to improved streets and sidewalks, he said.

In the capital improvement program, about $100,000 will be spent each year to repair and improve city sidewalks, and $500,000 will be spent on street improvements in core areas of the city, which primarily include downtown sidewalks and roads within the city that are considered heavy traffic areas, Turner said.

Turner said more detailed information regarding the recently unveiled plan, including specific areas that will be marked first for repairs once the projects begin, will become available in the coming months.

"Those are to be determined," he said. "We want to get the concept to the city commission and the public, and work out the final details later. We have some streets that are projected for overlay and repair, most of which are main road trafficways. That could change as the need arises."

Another part of the program that has been proposed and is currently just a concept is a Brick Street Program, which would involve the renovation of several historic brick streets each year by using newer bricks from other streets to replace bricks on other roads that are in poor condition.