SEBASTIAN – Roads in Sebastian will be getting fresh asphalt and surfaces starting within the next several weeks.
City staff is working on lining up drainage work to tie into the road resurfacing and improvements.
Roads that have been targeted for the work include Periwinkle, Laconia, South Easy and Schumann. The city has a little more than $1 million set aside for road improvement projects in its local option gas tax fund.
The Sebastian City Council unanimously approved contracts for the roadwork, though the city received only two bids, and none for placing asphalt.
E.J. Breneman, of Zephyrhills, has received the contract to conduct micro-surfacing and crack sealing on the roads, while Asphalt Recycling will perform the road milling.
APAC of Florida, located in Melbourne, will be tapped to lay the new asphalt. APAC is a current city contractor.
City Councilman Eugene Wolff asked City Manager Al Minner why the city did not receive more bids for the $1.2 million worth of roadwork.
Minner said all he could do is speculate on the lack of bids. He said that it’s possible that other firms were not interested in taking on multiple, small segments.
Councilman Don Wright also said that many firms could be tied up with larger projects due to federal stimulus dollars.
A separate road-related project the city will be undertaking is a parking study within the city’s redevelopment area.
Minner said that the city expects by the end of September to get proposals from interested companies to perform the study. Shortly after receiving the proposals, the City Council will be expected to award the work to one of the companies.
Minner said he’d like to have the study completed by the holidays.
With the study complete, the city will be able to figure out what the parking needs are and on what streets before determining which roads in the redevelopment area need to be resurfaced, repainted or add on-street parking.