Granite Shoals invests in road repair equipment to save time and money
Kings Circle Drive in Granite Shoals. Staff photo by Dakota Morrissiey
Granite Shoals is moving most roadway maintenance in-house to reduce long-term costs and accelerate repairs to city streets.
The City Council on Oct. 14 approved the purchase of over $350,000 in road repair equipment, including milling, grading, and leveling machinery. Officials say the move, made possible through a combination of cooperative purchasing discounts and government pricing, will lessen the city’s reliance on contractors.
“With more than 80 miles of roadway, outsourcing alone isn’t sustainable,” City Manager Sarah Novo told DailyTrib.com. “By developing in-house capability, we’re taking a solutions-focused approach that saves time, saves money, and is expected to deliver longer-lasting results for our community.”
The high cost of contracting for street work was best exemplified when the city paid over $300,000 to pave and repair just one mile of Kings Circle Drive in 2022, wiping out 89 percent of its street maintenance budget at the time.
The in-house maintenance initiative is a central part of the city’s newly adopted budget, which took effect Oct. 1 and places a strong emphasis on infrastructure. As part of that shift, the former Streets and Parks Department has been reorganized into two divisions: a Streets Division that will dedicate staff, resources, and equipment solely to road maintenance and a Parks Division that will focus on city parks.
Some of the funding for the road machinery comes from the city’s Street Maintenance Sales Tax Fund, which currently totals $414,155. Of Granite Shoals’ 8.25 percent sales tax, 2 percent goes to the city, which is evenly split between the General Fund and the Street Maintenance Fund.
In addition to new equipment, the city is also utilizing advanced street-assessment technology that will allow staff to evaluate and rank the condition of every road. The goal is to create a data-driven system that prioritizes repairs based on objective need.
In recent months, several residents have called for urgent action on deteriorating streets during Granite Shoals City Council meetings, citing issues like potholes and erosion.
“Given the skyrocketing tax evaluations and tax payments, the citizens of Granite Shoals are contributing to the city for critical services like infrastructure,” residents Penny Layton and Lisa Carr wrote in a letter submitted for the Oct. 14 meeting. “It is unacceptable that the streets in our area have basically washed away, leaving uneven surfaces, eroding yards, and dangerous holes and ruts.”