SEQUIM — City administrators haven’t navigated too much rough road on the way to readying the 2005 budget for passage next month.
A smooth final public hearing on the proposed spending plan sped through Monday night’s City Council meeting.
But thanks to what’s in the budget, just about everybody in Sequim will likely encounter rough roads in 2005 — so they won’t have to in 2006 and beyond.
An ambitious $1.69 million schedule of municipal street construction and repairs highlights the $15.48 million budget cleared by City Council members for final approval at the council’s Dec. 8 meeting.
Street work was such a high priority for council members that they agreed to “draw down” $1.3 million from the city’s general fund to help cover the cost of the six projects they hope to start work on next year, City Manager Bill Elliott said Tuesday.
Whether all six will happen as planned in 2005 depends on winning as much as $700,000 in grant money requested from the state Transportation Improvement Board.
The board allocates funds from 3 cents tax on every gallon of gasoline for road and street improvements throughout the state.
“We’ll find out about those (grants) sometime in the first quarter of next year,” Elliott said.
The six projects and their projected costs include:
* Repaving West Fir Street from North Sequim Avenue to Fifth Street, $750,000.
* Designing, engineering and constructing a short connection of East Spruce Street between Sunnyside and North Sequim avenues, $360,000.
* Repaving Fifth Avenue, from Washington Street to Old Olympic Highway, $278,000.
* Purchasing a right of way for the east end of Brownfield Road, $100,000.
The city hopes to construct the road between South Sequim and Third avenues.
* Designing, engineering and constructing a roundabout at the intersection of North Sequim Avenue and Old Olympic Highway, $88,000.
* Repaving portions of Third Avenue between Washington and Fir streets, $65,000.
