AMSTERDAM — City officials hope to repair and pave at least 186,370 square feet of streets this year during the city’s 2008 Road Program.

City Engineer Richard Phillips identified 12 neighborhood streets that need repairs, along with three major roads in need of work but which would cost a significant amount to repair, including sections of Locust, Vrooman and Forest avenues.

Phillips said the city has $440,453 to fix roads this year, most of it from the Consolidated Local Street and Highway Improvement Program (CHIPS). The 12 roads which Phillips recommended to fix this year would cost about $352,000 for paving alone with the remainder to be spent on fixing utilities under the road.

The three main roads are expected to cost about $228,000, which Phillips said the city should bond for to complete.

Alderman Daniel Roth, R-2nd Ward, said the city should be concerned with Forest Avenue, which he said was “the worst street in the city of Amsterdam.”

Mayor Ann Thane said she wanted the city to finish work on Guy Park Avenue, near St. Mary’s Hospital, which had been milled, but never paved.

Officials decided to seek bids on the entire project and ask for separate bids for the additional streets and Guy Park Avenue.

“Once the streets are decided we will look closer to determine the time frame and the staff needed to do the work,” Phillips said.

In further business, city officials agreed Tuesday to borrow additional money to repair new sections of the Nothampton box culvert and received a timeline to complete work on Church Street, which is expected to be finished at the end of October and would divert traffic off the busy thoroughfare for 10 weeks.

The city received a $400,000 Small Cities Grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to repair the sewer drain that runs parallel to Northampton Avenue from the city line to West Main Street.

Officials were expecting to spend $500,000 on the entire project and contribute $100,000.

The water pipe, installed in 1912, was leaking into residents’ basements and caused a garage to collapse. The city replaced roughly two thirds of the concrete pipe with a plastic one that causes the water to travel much faster.

According to city grant writer Nick Zabawsky, the velocity of the water running down the pipe is causing a problem along one section where the pipe takes a sharp turn.

“It feels like an earthquake when the water comes down and slams into that curve,” he said.

Engineers are now planning to replace that section of pipe with a rounded one to prevent the water from tearing out the wall.

The city agreed to borrow $126,000 for the additional work.