FENWICK ISLAND – A street maintenance proposal from an engineering firm will advance to the town council with the support of a Fenwick Island committee.
Last week, members of the Fenwick Island Infrastructure Committee voted unanimously to accept a street maintenance proposal from Mott MacDonald and forward the document to the Fenwick Island Town Council with a favorable recommendation.
After receiving proposals from two firms – Mott MacDonald and AECOM – Councilman Richard Benn, committee chair, said the plan submitted by Mott MacDonald was much more comprehensive.
“They are literally going to put it out for bid, post the bids and oversee the work and make sure the work is done properly,” he said. “They also list all the streets we need to do, and they estimate the cost to be $26,000. This proposal is quite a bit more than what AECOM’s is. It pretty much covers what we need.”
Benn told committee members last week the town had budgeted funds for street maintenance to be completed this fall and next spring. He said money set aside in the town’s dedicated street fund, as well as grant funding, would finance the project.
“The good news is between our dedicated street funds and what we already have saved up, we have enough money projected to cover all our street maintenance for the next 10 years, which is great,” he said. “We also get $37,000 from the state in assistance, so we should be in good shape, even with inflation.”
Benn said he believed the Mott MacDonald proposal was the better proposal and made a motion to accept it with a favorable recommendation. Public Works Director Mike Locke agreed the proposal offered more services, including bids and pre-bid meetings.
“Everything from start to finish is what they are proposing,” he said.
After further discussion, the committee voted unanimously to accept the proposal and forward it to the town council with a favorable recommendation.
“I feel the Mott MacDonald proposal is superior in every way …,” Benn said. “Since Mott MacDonald has done street work for us in the past, I think they are the preferred provider of this service.”
The committee last week also discussed plans to host a symposium on the town’s resiliency plan, produced by AECOM. Members agreed to host the meeting the Thursday before Labor Day at town hall.
“I don’t know if we should call it a symposium or open house,” Benn said, “but we really need to educate the town about what AECOM’s resiliency proposal is recommending.”
Benn said the symposium would allow officials to gather input from residents and discuss ways to implement the resiliency plan, should it be adopted.
“I think those are the main things we need to address,” he said.
