Fort Thomas City Council approved the city’s 2025-26 budget for street repair and maintenance.
By approving the “streets plan” months ahead instead of waiting until the start of the fiscal year in June, City Administrator Matt Kremer said it can save the city some money. Early bidding gives construction companies time to plan the project in their schedules, which can result in some savings, he said.
The approval, which happened during their Feb. 18 meeting, came after a recommendation by Public Works Committee Chair Adam Blau, who outlined the plan for the council.
The plan includes the streets Carmel Manor Road, Cochran Avenue, James Avenue, West Villa Place, Lockwood Place, Holly Woods Drive and Pleasant Avenue.
This is the second year since the city changed its process for street repairs. Property owners are no longer assessed, and the city includes money for street, sidewalk and curb repairs in the budget. While a public hearing is no longer necessary, the city still wants public input. In an effort to reach people, the city posts notices on the streets and on social media.
Still, Blau said he wants the community to know they can reach out any time with a street issue.
“We no longer individually assess each parcel for the street plan, and last year, everything went swimmingly,” Blau said. We still had a lot of feedback from the community on what needed to be done and not a lot of complaints. So I think we made a good decision moving forward.”
Addressing the community, he said, “We still need your feedback. We’re going to put it on the quarterly reports, put it online. We’re going to post it on the street. So please, if you know anybody on these streets, make sure they come up and let us know if there’s any issues they’re aware of that we may not see because we’re not there when the weather happens.”
Estimated cost for the street program including the street repairs, as well as the curbs and sidewalks, is about $833,000, said Kremer. At the recent Public Works Committee meeting, he noted that he has applied for state grants for two of the streets in the plan. If one or both of those grants come through, it could free up money for additional streets.
Council approved the funding request, allowing Kremer to begin the bidding process.