Two years after it was first suggested by staff the Town Council agreed during a special session Nov. 14 to hire a consultant to do an extensive evaluation of asphalt conditions to help develop a pavement management program for street maintenance.

The formal contract will need to come back to the council for approval. Public Works Director Justin Weldy told the council the cost for the basic evaluation is around $69,000. There is an option for annual data updates at an additional $6,000 per year. That, however, is not included in this consideration by the council.

Infrastructure Management Services (IMS) of Tempe is the company the town has been talking to about the evaluation. The company proposes to collect data on approximately 214 miles of pavement, which includes 179 centerline miles of residential streets plus additional mileage to cover a second pass on arterial streets.

Weldy said the evaluation goes beneath the asphalt surface to provide information on the conditions of the base underneath. The information will allow the town to make its maintenance decisions based on those areas needing immediate attention. It will move away from the current system the town uses for maintenance by zone.

The town has spent three years focusing its maintenance efforts on Zone 1, and it is not complete yet. Meanwhile aging streets in other parts of town continue to deteriorate, causing potential costs to rise when work would move to those areas.

Staff recommended that with limited funds for street maintenance the town should move to a “worst is first” scenario and the council agreed. The consultant’s evaluation will allow staff to determine its work schedule based on need.

It will also allow more efficient use of funding so staff can begin scheduling timely maintenance on the more recently improved roadways.

“You need to get the right product on at the right time,” Weldy said. “It should be applied while the pavement is still in good condition. There are portions of Saguaro and Shea that will need treatment soon.

“If you have to defer that treatment you allow the pavement to deteriorate more than it should.”

Town Manager Grady Miller said as it stands the town will likely never catch up with street maintenance.

“Right now it is throwing good money after bad,” Miller said. “My concern is asking voters to approve bond funding when we don’t have the money to maintain.”

Miller was referring to asking voters for a general obligation bond for other major work after the Saguaro bonding is paid off in 2020. The town cannot use bond money for maintenance.

Councilman Nick DePorter made the motion to approve the proposed evaluation.

“I agree we need the assessment to get the information we need to be in the right place at the right time,” DePorter said. “I move we have staff pursue the contract for the assessment, and we end the zone approach to maintenance.”

Vice Mayor Alan Magazine said he is concerned that they would be throwing money away if they had the evaluation done and then a potential primary property tax fails.

“We are no further ahead,” Magazine said.

He suggested a delay until after the election, if it happens in May.

Miller said staff still needs the information to plan for future work with potential bond funding.

“Staff is unable to do this [evaluation],” Miller said. “We don’t have the ability.”

Weldy said it would likely take about 60 days to complete a contract for council consideration and it would take six to eight months to complete the evaluation.