Salina Road to get second seal coat application soon

Roadwork was again a major topic of discussion at the weekly Jefferson County Board of Supervisors meeting today.

The supervisors agreed the county will add a second seal coat to Salina Road, using limestone chips and a different binder than was used this summer when the road was seal coated with boiler slag.

?The binder will be different because the outdoor temperatures are different,? said Scott Cline, county engineer. ?The contractor can start right away.?

Supervisor Lee Dimmitt asked Cline his personal opinion about the road needing a second seal coat, because the contractor LL Pelling states in an email the road doesn?t need a second seal coating, but to just keep brooming.

Cline said he thought a second seal coat is needed.

?We have 29 claims to date,? said supervisor Dick Reed, referring to the number of people who have filed a claim for vehicle window damage from driving on Salina Road since this summer?s boiler slag seal coating.

Others can still submit claims for window damages. The process is a bit cumbersome, Reed said.

First, vehicle owners should call the county engineer?s office, who will record the information and advise the owner to turn in a claim to the contractor, which will reject the claim, and then turn in a claim to the county?s insurance, which also will reject the claim.

?But we will pay the claim,? said Reed. ?But people need to go through this process first. We?ll begin writing checks on Oct. 29. People can still submit a claim after that date.?

In other road projects, Cline said fencing should be completed on the Quince Avenue and 240th Street projects.

Melanie Carlson, engineer from French Reneker Associates Inc. told the supervisors work has been completed on 227th Street and Grimes Avenue.

?The projects were seeded with permanent grass and also with rye, so this past rain could green it up,? she said. ?The final payment of $7,400 is payable as well as the retainage.?

She said Grimes Avenue project came in $30,000 less than projected because the work didn?t require using any contingency funds. And 227th Street project came in $15,700 less than projected. Total cost for both roadwork projects, including construction and an estimate of bonding attorney is $346,272.

?Have you been out to look at the roads since this weekend?s rain?? asked Reed.

Carlson said she had a walk-through in late August, but if supervisors wanted to hold final payment until she looked today, after the rains, waiting another week would not hurt anyone.

Supervisors approved a request from Iowa National Guard to grant an easement for access across the Secondary Road Department lot. The National Guard will wait for funding before beginning construction.

Supervisors approved hiring D. Champ as an equipment operator 1 for the Secondary Road Department.

Cline said this hire brings the maintenance crew up to staffing levels.

?At this time, I don?t have anyone else to hire,? he said.

Reed reported the boiler in the county building north of the courthouse, which formerly housed Department of Human Services, was inspected last week. Some of the lines to the boiler are corroded, but will be taken care of in the remodeling process. The building is being remodeled for use as the county attorney?s office.

Reed said Saturday is a workday at Maasdam Barns, and then made a request of the board.

?We ended up with an extra flagpole here at the courthouse, [after putting up flags by the Veteran?s Memorial], because we wanted a taller pole for the American flag,? he said.

?I?d like to put the extra flagpole at Maasdam Barns and fly the American and Iowa flags,? he said. ?It?s county property, too. And we?ll light it for keeping the flag up at night.?