Timnath council unanimously approves A-1 Chipseal contract amendment for 2026 road work

The Timnath Town Council unanimously voted May 26 to approve Resolution No. 35, Series 2026, authorizing a fifth amendment to the town’s agreement with A-1 Chipseal Company for 2026 road maintenance services. The action continues Timnath’s annual pavement-maintenance program, including asphalt patching, crack sealing, seal coating and concrete repairs, with about $1.053 million budgeted for the work.

Stephanie Moss told council that $965,000 will come from the Public Works operations budget and another $87,843 from the capital budget under transportation. She said A-1 Chipseal has handled the work for the town for the past two years and that the contractor’s 2026 services would continue the town’s maintenance plan.

Council Member Jeramie Holt said the work is aimed at protecting one of the town’s biggest assets by keeping newer subdivision streets from deteriorating. He compared the strategy to maintaining a house, saying preventive maintenance is far less costly than waiting for road conditions to worsen. Holt said the town recently completed pavement assessments across its road network and expects better data this summer as officials prepare the next budget, though he said he did not expect drastic changes in spending.

Council Member Dennis Strachota said he supported the amendment and called it the kind of contract change that should come before council because of its size. He contrasted it with a much smaller recent amendment to another agreement that he said created unnecessary staff work. Strachota later said preventive maintenance is essential to avoid even greater costs in the future.

Mayor Robert Axmacher and other council members also backed the spending, with Axmacher asking how the work would be distributed across town and how the budget would be controlled under a unit-price proposal. Holt said the program looks at the whole town, though some years may concentrate work in a particular subdivision depending on need. Moss said no additional work would be authorized beyond the approved funding unless staff returned to council for more money.

Before the vote, Axmacher said the project illustrates the scale of infrastructure costs relative to the town’s tax base. He said Timnath expects about $778,000 in property-tax revenue this year, meaning this single road-maintenance item exceeds what the town anticipates collecting in property taxes.