Bangor council eyes road paving costs Increase countered by state funding

BANGOR – A dramatic increase in the cost of making asphalt will mean a smaller bang for the city’s road paving buck.

During a meeting on Monday night of the City Council’s finance committee, City Engineer Jim Ring said that the city’s cost for asphalt, which is made with petroleum, has spiked since last year.

“Unfortunately, but not unexpectedly, our prices are up significantly this year – 55 percent,” he said.

A quick check of prices around the state showed a similar trend, Ring said, with other cities and towns paying from $57 to $60 a ton.

A year ago, the city’s cost for asphalt was $38.10 a ton. This year’s price is more than $58 and could soon hit $60, Ring said.

Ring said the price increase will translate to a 25 percent to 30 percent drop in the number of miles that will be paved in the year ahead, a decrease he said could have been steeper had the city not received word it will receive an additional $119,000 from the state for road work.

After Ring’s report, councilors on the finance committee agreed to recommend that this year’s citywide paving contract be awarded to Lane Construction, based in Meriden, Conn.

Because the contract exceeds the committee’s $100,000 spending limit, it must go before the full council for approval.

Also during the meeting, the finance panel:

. Voted to recommend that the full council award a $260,630 contract for an upgrade and improvements to the city’s emergency two-way radio system to Whitten Two-Way Radio of Brewer, the only vendor whose offer met all of the city’s specifications.

The purchase, which will eliminate radio “dead spots” in Bangor, will be funded by money the city received from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Community Oriented Policing Services, or COPS, program.

. Approved the purchase of a digital data recording system for the new police station from Automated Business Concepts of Bangor for $23,295. Federal homeland security funds will cover the cost.

. Voted to write off $5,145 in old or probably uncollectable real estate taxes and $31,272 in old personal property taxes to clean up the city’s tax files.

The accounts will be forwarded to the city’s collection agency for further action.

. Agreed to split the cost of repainting a tank at the Bangor International fuel farm with ExxonMobil Oil Corp.

The airport owns the tank. The painting project, projected to cost $80,000, is part of a routine maintenance program.

. Voted to pay Abatement Solutions of Windham, which submitted the lowest qualified bid, $15,006 to remove lead-based paint from a city-owned apartment building at 251-253 Union St.

The work will be done with Community Development Block Grant money.