CONTRACT MAINTENANCE IN URBAN AREAS

Since 1979 the city of Boulder, Colorado, has been involved in upgrading the city's street maintenance program. This work has involved improving staff maintenance procedures and identifying maintenance activities that, from a cost-effectiveness standpoint, can be contracted instead of completed inhouse. Based on a specific cost, skill, and equipment capability analysis, it was decided by the city that some maintenance activities would be done in-house, and a portion of other maintenance tasks would be done in-house and other portions for tasks such as snowplowing, permanent asphalt patching, and median mowing and maintenance would be contracted. There was also a decision to contract certain maintenance tasks, such as major street repair and street overlays, with no work on the task being done in-house. The program that was developed has resulted in a 35 percent reduction in permanent staff, from 27 to 19. Approximately 30 percent of the maintenance budget is now spent on contract maintenance. This maintenance process has enabled the city to improve its overall management of maintenance. In the past personnel, equipment, and material were usually used to do catchup, short-term repair work. Now maintenance is systematic, and more of the budget is spent on permanent repairs instead of on patching.