At a special session on May 31, Mayor Steve Rosenthal told the aldermen that if they get any calls regarding potholes not being repaired that it is because of a delay in getting the necessary asphalt materials.
He said the city is about 15 days away from getting any cold mix to repair the roads but it was not the city’s fault.
However, he said the lack of material has freed up some manpower, which enabled them to get a major leak on Church Street repaired plus install 100 feet of water line on Garrard Road.
During the discussion Alderman Ruben Woods mentioned the infrared asphalt repair machine that was presented to the previous administration and asked the mayor to bring back some more information for this board to consider.
Alderman Gary Fratesi also raised a concern and expressed his displeasure over the process now being used by city workers to repair the streets. He stated that the public works department has been instructed to stop putting gravel in holes and the city engineer has prescribed a better solution that some utility companies use with some degree of success.
“Atmos Energy does it all over town all of the time, why can’t we do it?” Fratesi asked.
Fratesi asserted that the issue is with management.
“Because nobody’s there to tell them how to do it, so they just throw gravel over the hole and do it the best way they know how.”
“Well I can only show them so many times,” said Rosenthal, “That packer is too much for an old man.”
However, Rosenthal assured him that when they start using the hot mix he will make sure that they do it right, but it is a waste of time to do it with the cold mix.
