A revised resolution of the Susanville City Council will result in the Public Works Department receiving a much-needed boost of funding for street improvement. The Proposition 1B Delivery Plan was originally approved by the council at its regular meeting on April 16 of this year. The plan, which was approved by California voters in 2006, provides funding from the state to cities and counties for local street and road improvements. According to Public Works Assistant Engineer Dan Newton, report, funding is given to cities who approve a project-delivery plan, and then submit it to the State Department of Finance. The council approved a project-delivery plan aimed at funding two new dump trucks for the public works department as well as crack and fog sealing for a number of streets around the city.

Platt said the state’s finance department received the delivery plan, but then responded back by saying the purchase of equipment with Proposition 1B money was a complicated issue. State finance department officials said the funds would not cover the complete cost of equipment acquisition. Newton explained that while Prop 1B money can be used to fund new equipment, it must be used in conjunction with a planned project from the public works department. Based on that information, Newton recommended against buying the dump trucks.

Newton said the public works department took things back to the drawing board and came up with a new delivery plan, one that takes full advantage of the available funding for street maintenance. Platt explained the full amount of funding that could be made available to Susanville from Proposition 1B was about $400,000.

Newton told the council the revised plan is going to focus on projects designed to rehabilitate and maintain existing streets, because he said the maintenance of city streets has been an under-funded section of the city’s budget for several years.

“The proposed revised project-delivery plan includes a crack-sealing project that will be done with city employees over a two-year time frame,” Newton said, “followed by a fog seal project that will be contracted out to a qualified fog seal contractor. The revised plan increases the funding for each of these items and allows for the maintenance of more streets.”

Newton said the public works department would have to report project expenses to the state on a regular basis, and the department can update any project plans as needed. The department will receive the money as soon as the state finance department approves the revised delivery plan. The department hasn’t outlined which streets on which it plans to focus with the funds.