The asphalt milling machines are likely to stay busy in Fountain Hills for a while longer.

Staff told the Town Council it can no longer wait to replace the pavement on some of the older streets and has devised a plan to fund some major work over the next year or two.

Town Manager Ken Buchanan and Development Services Director Paul Mood presented a proposed change to the asphalt maintenance plan to the council at a March 10 special session.

The council approved the plan and staff will move to implement the program early in the next fiscal year.

Staff had already suspended maintenance in the current fiscal year to allow funds to build up for a surge of work over the next three years in the northeast area of town, or Zone 1 on the Pavement Management Plan.

This area includes 712,026 square yards of asphalt. The zone is bounded by Palisades Boulevard on the south, Golden Eagle Boulevard to the west, and the town boundaries on the north and east.

The council had adopted a plan to allocate $1 million annually for pavement maintenance.

However, staff wants to initiate a mill and overlay project that will be more costly to preserve the integrity of some of the older, well-traveled streets.

Mood said some of these streets have reached the point where normal maintenance is ineffective.

He said slurry seal, for instance, will simply peel away within a couple of years.

During the first year of the plan the major collector streets -- including Glenbrook, El Pueblo and Grande boulevards -- will receive a mill and overlay. Also slated for this treatment are Fayette, Pepperwood and Del Cambre drives.

Mood said this is expected to cost $1.5 million.

In year two of the project more than 50 smaller sections of pavement will be removed and replaced totaling more than 17,500 square yards of asphalt.

The final year of the project will include slurry seal over the remaining streets including the areas repaired in year two.

After three years the program will move on to Zone 2 with a two-year plan.

Paying the bill

The only regular revenue stream for streets is the Highway User Revenue Fund (HURF) from the state, and a couple of years ago the council allocated funds from the town’s share of Vehicle License Tax (VLT).

There are other obligations related to the HURF including paying Street Department staff, however, the town has dedicated regular funding of $1 million annually by combining available HURF and VTL revenues.

Buchanan notes this is still inadequate as the town’s HURF allocation is slipping as other communities with a faster growth rate are receiving a greater share.

Also, the state gas tax, where much of the HURF money comes from, is unstable.

Buchanan noted that there are more cars on the roads creating wear and tear, but with fuel efficiency they are using less gas that creates the revenue to keep the streets maintained.

Buchanan said the town will need to look at future bond programs funded by property tax, similar to the Saguaro Boulevard project, to try and keep up with asphalt maintenance.

The Saguaro bond has a five-year payback so at the end of that period voters will likely be asked to consider a new bond for continued road maintenance.