Bowling Green’s Board of Commissioners on Tuesday approved a nearly $2 million bid for annual street improvements across the city.

Scotty’s Contracting & Stone, LLC received the award for 13 miles of road overlay work, including 107 intersections, 18 handicap ramp replacements and asphalt spot repairs.

“In a perfect world, we’d have it done by June (30), within the fiscal year, but sometimes it gets delayed and we have some that fall into the next fiscal year,” City Manager Jeff Meisel said.

Meisel said roads are tested for their smoothness and quality, with the most in-need selected for improvement. A full list of selected roads will soon be available at bgky.org/publicworks.

Director of Public Works Andy Souza said the timeline is ultimately up to Scotty’s, but he expects work to begin soon to meet the June 30 goal, with much of the work slated for the spring.

He added that northwestern Bowling Green will receive little work due to “significant water improvements” in the works by Bowling Green Municipal Utilities that could cause conflicts.

Commissioner Carlos Bailey asked if it was still possible to suggest improvements to other areas, which Souza said was doable.

“Public Works operations can still do certain parts of the road as well as we have that capability,” Souza said.

Commissioners also approved the use of $595,000 from an Environmental Protection Agency grant to hire consultancy agency Ernst & Young LLP to help seek funding from the Climate Pollution Reduction Grant program.

Souza said Ernst & Young’s “exploratory work” could allow access to a portion of $4.6 billion to address greenhouse gas emissions across Warren, Allen, Butler and Edmonson counties.

CPRG Project Coordinator Jake Moore told commissioners that “bigger is better” in regards to potential projects, which he said can catch the attention of grant awarders.

“There is over $4 billion on the table here and EPA anticipates to administer anywhere between a dozen to two dozen grants that range between $50 to $100 million,” Moore said. “There’s some big packages here for us to go after.”

He said new roundabouts, more efficient machinery and better greenspace across the city are all potential outcomes of a grant award.

Moore added that Bowling Green is the second smallest entity eligible for grant funding. He said the department is looking at a coalition with Tennessee, Mississippi and Alabama to better increase the odds of receiving awards.

Commissioner Dana Beasley-Brown explored the idea of funding a high-speed rail between Nashville, Bowling Green and Louisville through a coalition, which Moore said was not impossible.

“That’s something that I think EPA would love. They’re going to be wanting ideas that catch headlines and turn some heads,” Moore said. “At this point, I can’t just promise ‘yeah, we’re going to go ask for a train to take us from Louisville to Nashville,’ but anything you can think of is on the table here.”

The grant process includes the creation of a Priority Climate Action Plan, analyzing the presence of greenhouse gasses in the region, pollution reduction measures and a benefit analysis for low-income and disadvantaged communities, Moore said.

“That’s something that doesn’t really exist around here,” Moore said. “There’s nothing that we’ve done similar to that ever.”

The firm will also help draft a Comprehensive Climate Action Plan, which analyzes similar measurements over a longer timeframe, Moore said. The plan would also include long-term emission projections and reduction targets.

Moore said the PCAP is due March 1 and an application for implementation funding is due April 1. These tight deadlines necessitate the help of a firm like Ernst & Young, which he said has the manpower get it done.

Commissioners also approved the promotion of fire department employees Michael Bean, Matt Ferguson and Craig White to battalion chiefs.

“Since 2010, the city’s population has grown 25%, the department’s call volume has grown 75%, minimum staffing has grown 13%,” Deputy Chief Brad Smith said. “The growth of the city, spanning 21 miles from north to south, 13 miles from east to west, has outpaced the ability of one on-duty battalion chief to effectively manage.”

In a memo to Meisel, Smith said the request for three new battalion chiefs was originally made by Fire Chief Gerry Brown in the mid-1990s, adding that the approval now is “a sign of progress.”

Smith said the additional chiefs will allow for faster and more organized on-scene responses across the city, adding that each chosen chief “fits the bill” for the position.

“Their body of work, their promotional performance, shows their value,” Smith said. “I’m proud to recommend each of them and to say they are worthy of taking the next step in our efforts.”

The Board of Commissioner’s will meet again for their next session on Jan. 16.