By By MIKE VOSS
Contributing Editor
Washington’s City Council, during its meeting Tuesday, is expected to authorize City Manager James C. Smith to enter into an agreement with Ramey Kemp &Associates to perform engineering and other services necessary to replace the Brown Street bridge.
In November 2008, the council gave its OK for the city to participate in the N.C. Department of Transportation’s municipal bridge program.
The project — an estimate the city got in March 2009 put the project cost at about $600,000 — will be paid for with a combination of federal funds — allocated by the N.C. Department of Transportation — and local funds, Allen Lewis, the city’s public-works director, told the council in March 2009.
On Thursday, Lewis said the existing bridge will be replaced with a new bridge instead of box culverts, which had been considered as an option for replacing the existing bridge.
The project is included in the state’s Transportation Improvement Plan. DOT’s program to repair or replace bridges in municipalities provides federal funds for 80 percent of the project cost, with the remaining 20 percent in funding to be provided by the municipality participating in a project. The TIP allocates $500,000 in funding for the project. The TIP also requires the city to provide $100,000 toward the project.
In October 2006, the bridge’s continuing deterioration caused the city to close the bridge for additional assessments to determine if it was feasible to repair or replace it. Motorists and several residents who live near the bridge complained about the bridge closure, saying it was an inconvenience. They asked that it be repaired or replaced.
The proposed agreement stipulates that when alternate designs appear warranted, Ramey Kemp shall prepare those designs in sufficient detail to allow a decision on the most desirable alternative. It also states that final roadway plans shall be developed and shall be in sufficient form and detail for the city to award a construction contract for the project.
Other items on the council’s agenda include, but are not limited to, the following:
• A discussion about the status of existing grants;
• A discussion about the former Beaufort County Health Department property adjacent to Jack’s Creek;
• Consideration of amending the city’s capital improvements plan to include the area known as Festival Park (most of the open space between the N.C. Estuarium and the former Maola plant on Water Street).
• An appearance by Bill Walker to discuss the Little Washington Sailing Club.
• An appearance by Denise Neunaber with the N.C. Coalition to End Homelessness.
The council meets at 5:30 p.m. in the Council Chambers of the Municipal Building, 102 E. Second St.