The Kenai City Council last week authorized a pair of contracts for assessment of the city’s streets and street lights to guide maintenance and improvement projects next year.
TR Consulting Services, a Colorado-based company with a satellite office in Anchorage, will be paid nearly $90,000 to complete an inventory and assessment of all of the paved and unpaved roads maintained by the City of Kenai. Evari Consulting, of San Diego, California, will be paid $80,000 to conduct a similar project for city street lights.
A pair of resolutions authorizing both contracts were adopted by unanimous consent of the council during their Aug. 6 meeting. Kenai Public Works Director Lee Frey said the work is expected to begin later this month and extend for roughly four months. The findings will be reflected in the city’s next capital improvement plan in the wintertime.
The projects will identify the condition of the respective city infrastructure and identify possible “major deficiencies,” Frey said. The city, via the street project, may also purchase software to track condition of roads and street lights internally moving forward.
The street light inventory will involve collecting a large amount of data that Frey said the city doesn’t already have available. That’s quantitative data as to what light and what pole is installed at each location.
“I think this will give us some valuable insight on prioritizing where we need to spend our funds in the future,” council member Alex Douthit said in support of both resolutions.
A full recording of the meeting and the text of both resolutions can be found at kenai.city.
Reach reporter Jake Dye at jacob.dye@peninsulaclarion.com.
