Street paving in the city of McMinnville may have to wait until spring 2017, but a repair project is slated to begin this month to prepare several streets for paving.
Jefferson Street, Rebel Hill Street, Caldwell Street, College Street, Donnell Street and Garfield Street are on the list for repair in 2016 and possible paving in early 2017. 
“We are set to begin an extensive hot-mix repair project this month that could take a month or more to complete,” said McMinnville Public Works Department assistant director Brad Hennessee. “If it’s late-October or after when that’s complete, it’s probably best to wait until spring to pave. We don’t know at this time when the next round of paving will start.”
Public Works employees will be making the repairs as a cost-saving measure, while street paving will be through a private contractor. City officials placed $200,000 in the Street Aid Budget for paving. Until the bidding process is complete, it is unknown how many streets the allotted funds will pave.
Hennessee used last year’s street paving bid numbers to generate the list.
“Paving must be bid out before we will know how much paving can be accomplished,” said Hennessee. “We do have a list of streets we think we can pave with the allotted money. Based on last year’s price, $200,000 will pave Jefferson Street, Rebel Hill Street, Caldwell Street, College Street, Donnell Street and Garfield Street. This is only a projection at this point. We won’t know until bids are received how many streets can be paved with $200,000.”
There are other streets that need repair, said Hennessee, but those will have to wait.
“Regrettably, there are several other streets in need of paving, but the repair work that must be done on those streets is so extensive there is simply not enough time for city crews to prepare any more than those during this budget cycle,” he said.
The extensive hot-mix repair project is slated to begin as soon as city employees complete the underground drainage tiles repair project currently being done at the intersection of Old Smithville Road and Yager Road.