Lawrence City Council members and Department of Public Works staff reviewed the streets portion of the proposed fiscal-year budget and outlined plans to apply this month for a Community Crossing matching grant that would pair $1 million in state funding with a $1 million local match.

The discussion focused on how staff reallocated existing funds across line items rather than seeking an increase in the overall streets appropriation. Streets staff told the council that “for the community crossing matching grant, we're going to apply for that application through this month. We, it's a million dollar grant that we match, so we would match a million.” The application listed three target subdivisions: Pebblebrook, Kingsborough and English Oak — all concrete streets, which staff noted typically cost about twice as much to repair or replace as asphalt streets.

City staff said salaries in the streets budget are down roughly 3 percent from the prior year because the department is currently one employee short and there is an internal hiring freeze. The streets payroll figure was described as an ‘‘annual adjustment’’ to better reflect expected staffing levels. The presentation listed seven full-time employees plus one part-time worker in the street crew.

Councilors pressed staff on which specific projects would be funded if the matching grant is awarded. Streets staff said the grant application would target the full subdivisions identified, not just single streets in those subdivisions, and noted that doing concrete streets reduces the total linear footage that can be completed with the same funds. Staff also said they moved money into an engineering line to try to reduce change orders on future construction bids: “we did move some money to 4310002 engineering. We're gonna try to... get a closer number to actual construction cost and not have the change orders that we've seen,” the staff member said.

Councillors asked about local rules tied to specific revenue sources. A staff member explained the motor-vehicle excise tax (wheel tax) is treated as motor vehicle highway revenue and that state rules require “you have to spend 50% of those taxes on actual street construction,” adding that routine patching is not considered construction under that fund and therefore must be paid from a different account.

On materials and supplies, staff explained several line items: a vendors/supplies line (422015) for uniforms, barricades and sign parts; a brine/asphalt materials line (423015) for patching and painting; and other lines for boots, safety supplies and building repair. Staff said the city currently has a large carryover of rock salt from prior purchases, and that is why salt purchases do not appear in the immediate-year budget: the salt barges purchased last year are expected to reduce near-term salt buying.

Councilors repeatedly emphasized constituent priorities — especially street paving, sidewalk repair and drainage — and asked staff to prioritize projects that deliver visible neighborhood impact. Several councilors tied project selection to PASER ratings, a third‑party pavement assessment that staff said the city uses to pick streets for repairs rather than relying on complaint counts.

The streets presentation closed with staff noting the overall dollars in the street budget remained the same as the prior year after line-item moves, and that staff will proceed with the grant application and with engineering work intended to improve bid estimates and reduce change orders.