Ranking system to help determine road projects Council members, public can help decide what roads are done BY JESSICA SMITH Staff Writer OLD BRIDGE - While it has been said that the road to hell is paved with good intentions, good planning is what will help township officials to pave roads that need it most. Business Administrator Mike Jacobs presented the benefits of a five-year street paving and curbing plan at the Township Council meeting Monday. "We're paving over existing problems," Jacobs said. "Our street paving process is probably one of the largest [areas of] discretionary spending ... over the past four years." Through a street ranking system used by the state, Haddonfield-based engineering firm Remington & Vernick created a report that details every street in the township, identifying them from best to worst, Jacobs said. Council members will receive copies of the report, and they, along with the public, will be encouraged to offer input to be taken into account. Jacobs said the plan is flexible. "The plan isn't a law that you can't change," Jacobs said. "It can be amended at any time." Due to cost restrictions, the plan created by Remington & Vernick did not include traffic studies on the streets. Jacobs said this is one area in which input from officials and residents will be useful. Councilman Pat Gillespie pointed out that high-traffic areas could be identified by examining wear and tear on the streets. According to Jacobs, the plan will represent cost savings to the township because detailed bid specifications would be done individually for each street. This will allow for precise quantities of necessary materials, Jacobs said, while eliminating problems that can arise when streets are not taken into account individually, such as with drainage. Bids for the projects would be solicited during the off-season, he said. "Currently, we use a one-size-fits-all bid spec," Jacobs said. Another benefit of the long-range planning is that underground utility companies would be given advance notice of work to be done in a given area, which would cut down on damage to newly-paved streets from cutting into them, according to Jacobs. The companies would receive reduced fees in return for planning ahead and completing work before the streets get paved, and would be faced with the disincentive of paying more if it was done after the paving. Jacobs added that emergencies would obviously be exempt from such regulations. "Protection from damage, I think, is one of the bigger issues we'll get success from," Jacobs said. With the plan, the streets will have a much greater chance for longevity, especially in terms of drainage issues, Jacobs said. Costs will be estimated according to the project's costs over the previous year, according to Jacobs. Last year, the township spent $1 million on paving. Close to that amount was spent on curbing. Each year, the township engineer will conduct the bid process, and the list of streets for a given year will be updated annually. "I think it's high time that we've done this," Gillespie said. "The fact that we're going to use engineering ratings ... I think, takes the guesswork out of it." Councilman Richard Greene also said he thinks the plan is a good course of action. He said he would like to be able to let residents in ward five, over which he presides, know when their streets and curbs will be done. "I think the curbs should definitely still be a focus," Greene said. "The residents love it." Greene also pointed out that in the past, his ward has been allotted two to three streets per year on which to have work done. Even over five years, he said, all of the streets in ward five could not be completed. Mayor Jim Phillips agreed with Greene in part, saying a recurring question from residents while on the campaign trail was when their curbs would be replaced. Instead of splitting the work into a certain number of streets per ward, Phillips said, it seems more rational to address those most in need first. "It's been on a lottery system, almost ... and I don't think that's the answer," Phillips said. "I think this should be an objective way of how we have this prioritized. Quite frankly, each ward doesn't warrant the same amount of money equally." Greene held to his position of pushing for work to be done in ward five. "I'm going to fight as much as I can to get as many streets as possible done in my area," Greene said. Phillips pointed out to the council that they would have to be discerning over the coming year regarding which capital projects in general most need to be done in town, as one of their goals in creating the budget was to spend only as much on capital projects as has been retired in debt.