Supervisors, engineer hear complaint about roads

By MEGAN COOPER

Mt. Pleasant News

All is not well with roads in the county according to some Henry County residents.

During Tuesday?s Henry County Board of Supervisors meeting Rick, Dick and Linda Smith approached the board with a concern they had about the roads near their properties.

?I want it on record that I?m not happy with what is going on with the roads out there,? said Rick Smith. ?We have 20 of our driveways (rental properties) gouged. I don?t understand.?

The gouges in the roads aren?t the only concern he has.

?We have a pothole issue as well. I just don?t understand why we see the guy with the blade up, I don?t know how many times this winter, well, last month, I saw him with his blade up. I don?t understand why there is so much hopping around.?

Linda Smith stated, ?If you travel 265th to Iowa Avenue, the first quarter-mile is terrible. Even in front of our driveway it is terrible. There are big potholes to the east of our house.?

Henry County Engineer Jake Hotchkiss offered his explanation and his upcoming plans to fix the problem.

?We will take care of the driveways, in the next week or so, we will get out there,? said Hotchkiss. ?As far as the whole road goes, we will be out rocking it and fixing it up. It won?t happen overnight, but we know we have an issue out there and we will do what we can to fix it.

?The weather right now also poses a problem; we have to wait for it to dry out. The guys are doing the best work they can out there.?

Rick Smith also discussed with the engineer a sliding issue he has near his home.

?Another thing that has been going on for years, before you (Hotchkiss) were here, is the hillside that keeps sliding,? said Rick Smith. ?It?s 38 feet from my garage now and I just want to try and head off the problem.?

Hotchkiss explained that the problem would most likely be fixed when the re-grading project comes up next spring.

?We have on it our five-year plan to fix that problem,? said Hotchkiss. ?It just takes some time because we have to get permission for the right-of-way from the state and that will hold the project up. My plan is to work on it next spring. I have other projects I?m trying to get done this summer because of the right-of-way process. Projects move on and off the plan based on what we can get done when we can.?

After the discussion of county roads and the hill slide, Hotchkiss discussed with the board what the road department was up to last week.

?The Oasis Avenue bridge is gone now,? said Hotchkiss. ?The contractor will be working on the piling on the first pier today (Tuesday). It?s going well so far and the rain hasn?t been a major factor. We also discussed details on the parking lot repair for the courthouse and the CPC building. After talking with some contractors, they feel that a sealer is the best bet.

?It?s in good shape and we will fill the cracks ahead of time. It will give it a nice aesthetic look. My suggestion would be that I will get you (the board) the details and a preliminary proposal and you (the board) can send out for bids to get the best price you can,? explained Hotchkiss.

The engineer also completed the following last week:

Monday ? Operators were out blading and working on small seeding projects. Fixed a broken tile and hauled some rock on Hoover.

Tuesday ? Cold patching near Lockridge and prepped Clayton Avenue for project on Wednesday.

Wednesday ? Worked on blading and completed the first project of spring/summer on Clayton Avenue. Removed the bridge there. Seeding crews were out in various spots. The project went well according to Hotchkiss.

Thursday ? Blading and working on entrance pipes as well as cleanup work on Clayton Avenue.

Friday ? Spot blading and the excavator was moved to Hoover for brush cleanup.

Up next in board business was Henry County Sheriff Rich McNamee, who asked for approval on two grant applications.

?We have had these grants before and one grant is for ballistic vests, last year we got four. This year we are applying to get two,? said McNamee. ?It?s approximately $1,000, a little more or less. The next grant is from the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program and it?s for an undetermined amount of money. Two years ago a squad car was bought with the money and last year medical expenses were paid.

?They determine the amount they want to give depending on the amount of the population of illegal aliens in the jail. I just need a signature and a date. When they are approved I will bring them back and have you sign them,? explained McNamee.

Finally, board Chairman Marc Lindeen discussed his sub-committee report with the board.

?I went to Great River Regional Waste and we discussed the Terminator again,? said Lindeen. ?Trying to decide if they go for it or not. An engineering firm did do a graph and it showed that with the Terminator, we could get six more years out of our landfill. It?s a sizable difference and cost effective. Right now, the landfill is expected to be full in 2032 and the graph shows that it would be full in 2038 instead.?

The Terminator, according to information received, is a patented, universal, slow speed, high torque size reduction machine that is highly metal tolerant and specifically designed to shred mixed, unsorted material. It can also increase airspace by 30 percent.

The Henry County Board of Supervisors will meet again in regular session on Thursday, May 1, at 9 a.m. in the board room at the courthouse.