In spring 2006 City staff attended neighborhood and other civic group meetings to discuss the state of the City's street system. In addition, staff sent mailers, featured information about the street situation at the community booth in the farmer's market, and included information on this web site. In July 2006, City staff presented the Milwaukie City Council with the results of several months of research and findings from Phase 1 of the public outreach effort. The research included a detailed look at recent budget history and review of a 2004 report by a street maintenance consultant. Staff concluded that the City Street Fund revenues were inadequate to effectively maintain the street network, significant deterioration has already taken place, and the longer the situation remains unaddressed, the larger the cost of repairing city streets will become. Council directed staff to put together a Street Maintenance Program. City Council voted to adopt the "Street Surface Maintenance Program" (SSMP) on December 19, 2006. The program was legally established by "yes" votes on the second reading of the implementing ordinances on January 2, 2007, and April 17, 2007. Attached to the staff report (Item 5) are a detailed description of the program and the text of the adopted ordinances. The new fees went into effect July 1, 2007. Since the establishment of the program, it has funded overlays on 42nd Avenue (north of Harvey), 37th Avenue (from Highway 224 to Lake), Washington Street (from McLoughlin to Oak), and Oak Street (from Highway 224 to Monroe). In addition, SSMP funds paid for the partial reconstruction of King Road from 43rd to Hollywood in Summer 2008. If you have questions about the program, please visit the Frequently Asked Questions page.
For more information please contact Alex Campbell at 503-786-7608 or .
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