SALISBURY — The Salisbury City Council approved an $869,540 contract with NJR Group Inc. for paving streets around the city. A separate contract for $50,000 covers paving portions of the greenway.

Salisbury completed its first pavement survey since 2008 and noted 171 miles of roadways with more than 1,800 street segments and 51 city parking lots. Each was rated to establish the 2023 paving list to note which needed attention first.

Bids for contractors went out in February, with NJR Group Inc. being chosen as the lowest option.

A little over a mile will be resurfaced at the greenway. The focus will be on the section from Prescott Drive to Overton Elementary School and parts near Memorial Park Cemetery. The $50,000 was included in the parks and recreation budget, but some savings came because the city was able to get a better deal with NJR Group by combining it with the bigger paving contract. Without that, “We probably couldn’t have done as much of the greenway,” Public Works Director Chris Tester said.

Tester says the contractor will begin work in two or three weeks with the hopes of finishing by May 31, depending on how the weather cooperates. Residents living on the affected streets and neighborhoods will be notified in the coming weeks via letters and signage that will be posted.

Sewer renewal

City council also agreed to renew a second contract worth just over $1 million with Atlantic Coast Contractors Inc. for construction expenses related to the sanitary sewer rehabilitation project. Salisbury-Rowan Utilities Assistant Director Jason Wilson presented some of the projects that have been completed since 2018, the first year of the program. These included cleaning 11 miles of sewer lines, installing 7.3 miles of cured-in-place pipe and having 61 manholes installed, repaired, or raised.

Wilson said there was enough money in the budget to renew the contract, but said some pricing has gone up.

“All of this is under the goal of reducing stormwater getting in the sanitary sewer,” Wilson said. “It’s cheaper to keep it out of the pipe than to have to upgrade the treatment plant.”