County road crews trying to work around rainy weather

By BRYCE KELLY

Mt. Pleasant News

The rain and wet weather has certainly been a stumbling block for Henry County Engineer, Jake Hotchkiss, and his staff, but he says crews have finally been able to resume work on some projects- even if things are a little slower than normal.

?The grading subcontractor on the Marsh Avenue Bridge project has moved in and is starting to move dirt,? said Hotchkiss during his weekly update at the Henry County Board of Supervisors meeting on Tuesday. ?The dirt is certainly wet and will require more time to dry out, but they are making some good progress.?

Also seeing progress is the W55/Franklin Avenue paving project. The contractor working on this project has already started construction. According to Hotchkiss, work is progressing well, and asks that the public continue to be patient as work continues.

?We are trying to keep a very open line of communication with folks that have homes in this area so as to alert them when certain areas may be closed for construction,? said Hotchkiss.

As work progresses, the Henry County Engineer?s Office will be releasing information to the media alerting locals of the current road openings and detours.

Individuals interested in more information about road closings may also call the Henry County Engineer?s Office anytime at 319-385-0762. An answering service with information regarding road closures is available after normal business hours.

While crews have able to blaze ahead in some work projects, other projects are still on hold due to wet conditions. In particular, the 320th Street Riverbank Stabilization project is at a standstill until river levels lower.

Besides touching on his department?s ongoing road projects, Hotchkiss also gave a brief quarterly report on the secondary roads department budget for the current fiscal year.

?So far, we are either on schedule or slightly under budget for most items, so that is encouraging to see,? said Hotchkiss. ?To date, we have used about 85 to 88 percent of our fiscal year?s budget, which is pretty close to where we want to be.?

Hotchkiss credited both his crews and the competitive rates of various contractors for the department?s ability to stay relatively within budget so far this fiscal year.

In other news, the Henry County Board of Supervisors approved the canvass of the June 30 special school election.

There were no sub-committee reports given.

The next Henry County Board of Supervisors meeting will be held on Thursday, July 9, at 9 a.m., in the Henry County Courthouse.