Folsom Council approves annual street repair plan

The Folsom City Council hired an inspection engineer Tuesday to monitor the $1.4 million annual citywide pavement repair and resurfacing project. In April, the council hired Consolidated Engineering to patch older roads in the city. The citywide initiative is part of an ongoing effort to preserve and maintain existing roadways in the Folsom public right-of-way. The road department maintains the program that's updated every five years. This program identifies road maintenance and repair needs throughout the city. The goal is to maintain the overall city pavement condition index, using gas tax funds. The scope of work includes asphalt milling and replacement, crack filling, slurry sealing, installation of new concrete gutters, sidewalks and curbs, as well as the removal and replacement of ADA-compliant ramps and manhole covers. Additional work includes curb painting, pavement markings and installation of thermoplastic striping. "The Public Works Department currently lacks adequate in-house staffing with the specialized training and availability required to perform daily inspection and materials testing for a project of this scale," said Public Works Director Mathew Yasutake. "To ensure that the project is executed with engineering standards, budget constraints and schedule requirements, it is necessary to retain a qualified consultant with expertise in construction inspection and materials testing." Public Works staff issued a request for proposals to three firms previously shortlisted under the city on-call roster. After review, Public Works staff selected the top-ranked firm, Ghirardelli Associates, Inc. for the duration of the pavement program, scheduled to begin in early July. The contract is for $136,000, staff said. The engineer's estimate for the overall project was $1.9 million this year. Out of nine bidders, Consolidated Engineering won the contract in April with a low bid of $1.4 million, according to the report. The council approved the pavement inspector during the consent agenda Tuesday.