South Neenah Avenue Getting Some State-Supported Attention

The City of Sturgeon Bay has received a slice of the $18.5 million that was inserted one time only into the state’s 2019-20 budget for qualifying infrastructure projects within cities and villages. The program pays 90 percent of the cost of approved projects, or $200,000, whichever is less. 

The project that Sturgeon Bay City Engineer Chad Shefchik submitted was for South Neenah Avenue between East Oak Street and East Yew Street. The majority of the pavement along that stretch is more than 25 years old and in very poor condition. The project will include new asphalt pavement, spot replacement of concrete curbing, and manhole and catch-basin height adjustments. The estimated costs are $370,373, with the state paying $200,000 and the city supplying the remaining $170,373.

Mayor David Ward voluntarily ate a little crow when he admitted during the Common Council’s July 7 meeting that he was “entirely wrong” about the city’s chances of getting any of the money. “I thought our chances were zero,” he said. 

The funding was highly competitive. Of the 461 eligible applications that cities and villages submitted to the state totaling $674 million in value, only 34 were funded, including Sturgeon Bay’s project. 

Shefchik said the project should be underway in April 2021 and completed in June 2021. The Common Council unanimously accepted the awarded grant.