Borough Manager Proposes Maintenance Expenditure
Sidewalk restoration at the intersection of 5th Avenue and 11th Street - near Ford City Junior-Senior High - took place as part of the ongoing resurfacing project last week prior to the Back 2 School Bash in Ford City Park with efforts in that block completed before school started today.
By Jonathan Weaver
With the repaving of 5th Avenue scheduled to be done in two weeks, Ford City Interim Borough Manager Eden Ratliff proposed Monday that council members consider a purchase to better municipal roadways until they can be paved.
Currently, for a short-term solution until roadways are repaved, Ratliff said road workers rely on “cold patch” -made up of recycled asphalt concrete or millings commonly used to fill in potholes. But, he said there is a better solution.
“We typically use cold-patch – everyone sees it; it’s all over the streets. Our (employees) and engineers don’t like cold patch because it’s a temporary solution for what seems to be a long problem we’ve had,” Ratliff said. “Cold patch really is not a good thing to use, but it’s what the borough has been using for a long time now.
“The way we’re doing it now, we’re cutting a big hole out of the street. And I don’t want to fill it with cold patch – it’s junk, it’s not good for the town.”
Ratliff recommended using hot patch – with asphalt that is about 200 degrees Fahrenheit -since it will eliminate short-term problems without depending on high traffic – with a new piece of equipment.
“We have a compactor that’s not really designed for hot patch, but it’s the best thing we have right now,” Ratliff said. “The best thing would be to have a roller, but we don’t have one here in the borough.”
A four-ton hopper and hand roller through the state COSTARS cooperative purchasing program that would include overnight heating would cost about $26,500 and would be an “asset” long-term for the municipality and get the job done, he said.
“It’s expensive – but I think for the amount of roads and alleys in the borough with major potholes in it, if you get in there, clean it out and cut a nice square, put your base in there, compact it, hot patch and roll it, you’re going to have a much-better fix,” Ratliff said. “It’s going to be much-better for driving over in the long run until we get these streets repaved.”
The overnight heating would save employee time during the week, but crews would try to work on one spot for two consecutive days to repair the pothole properly.
“You have to do it the most-efficient way possible.”
Regardless of the product used, borough crews watch the five-day weather forecast to predict when to fix potholes and would be trained how to use new equipment.
Planning Commission Member Tyson Klukan clarified that the new roller would be able to be pulled via the dump truck.
A search indicated there are several asphalt suppliers in Butler County or to the south in Allegheny County.
Council Vice-President Jerry Miklos said the hopper was an investment and asked Ratliff to look for possible grant funds to make the purchase or purchase it jointly with a neighboring municipality.
Miklos added that he is still waiting to see a list made by former-superintendent Larry Coffey of all the equipment Ford City Borough has scrapped – including a roller – and the profits collected.
Alley paving is to be completed by mid-September.
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By mad-2010, August 20, 2014 @ 8:07 AM
Keep up the good work Eden.. Good Luck, Man