By Rebecca Gaunt

At Monday night’s meeting, the Kennesaw City Council approved a contract to repair failing stormwater pipes in the city.

Proshot Concrete, Inc. will complete the work for $277,610, which will come from the city’s annual budget for stormwater construction and improvement.

According to Ricky Stewart, the city’s public works director, the repairs will take place on Vintage Wood Way, Nuthatch Court, North Hampton Drive, Drayton Way, and Summit Wood Drive.

With a recommendation from Robbie Balenger, the building and facilities manager, the City Council authorized a $313,491 contract with T&T Commercial Equipment to replace the rooftop HVAC unit that services all of City Hall.

The current unit weighs about 105 tons and is approximately 20 years old.

“We can’t get parts for it anymore, is why we’re in the situation where we need to replace it,” Balenger told the Council earlier this month.

The project is covered by the 2022 SPLOST facility improvement funds.

The council also agreed to Kennesaw Police Chief Bill Westenberger’s request to submit a federal grant application to the U.S. Department of Justice for body-worn cameras.

The project budget is $136,000. If granted, the city is required to match with half the funds, or $68,000, from the police department budget or other sources. The grant covers purchase costs and associated deployment costs such as subscription fees and chargers. Federal funding is capped at $2,000 per camera. 

“Our current system is aging and we know that it’ll be needing to be replaced in the next few years,” Westenberger told the Council at the July 8 work session.

Rebecca Gaunt earned a degree in journalism from the University of Georgia and a master’s degree in education from Oglethorpe University. After teaching elementary school for several years, she returned to writing. She lives in Marietta with her husband, son, two cats, and a dog. In her spare time, she loves to read, binge Netflix and travel.