Granite Shoals paves way for street repairs and park project

Granite Shoals City Council members on Tuesday, July 23, moved forward on paving projects and set parameters for how particular land sale funds could be spent.

Councilors approved a contract for $720,034 to pave King Circle, Hill Way and the fire department parking lot and gave their OK to a budget amendment to pay for the work.

CK Newberry LLC of Karnes City was the lower of only two bidders on the project, city documents show.

When the council first discussed the paving last year they estimated it would cost around $500,000. The increase forced a budget amendment to pay the new amount, said Finance Director Kevin Rule.

“What we are doing is we’re increasing the expenditure in the street maintenance that is funded with sales tax,” Rule said at Tuesday’s council meeting.

“We’re increasing that by $300,000 to $800,000 in the current budget. Right now, there is an expenditure that was passed last year for half a million dollars, and we need the additional $300,000 in order to pay for the contract down the street paving.”

Such budget amendments are common for cities, counties and school districts when original cost estimates fall short or when unexpected expenses arise. They don’t normally call for increases in taxes, but transfer funds from one line account to another.

In his recommendation to the council, Street and Park Superintendent Shorty Corley noted, “After reviewing the (Pavement Management Priority) list and consulting with street maintenance crews regarding recent completion of culvert upgrades in this area, staff recommends pavement rehabilitation on Hill Way, Kings Circle and the parking lot of the fire station.”

Also Tuesday, the council affirmed a city policy of keeping the profits from the sale of two city lots adjacent to Timberhill Park must be kept to be used for that park and not distributed to other park funds.

There was a question raised earlier about how those funds could be used.

The staff report to the council noted, “The Parks Committee has discussed the potential sale of these lots at a recent meeting and has recommended that the proceeds from the sale be specifically allocated to improvements within Timberhill Park as a line item in the Restricted Parks Fund. This recommendation was intended to ensure that funds from the sale di- rectly benefit the nearby park, enhancing its facilities and amenities.”