Council Discusses Street Improvement Project Options
GOODMAN — The city council in Goodman returned on Dec. 3 to discuss its plans for a citywide sale this coming spring, which is to be followed by a proposed cleanup. Also on the agenda were some concerns the board had about the city’s street improvement project.
Present at this meeting were Mayor J.R. Fisher, Alderman John Bunch, Alderman Nicholas Smith, Alderman Beth Hallmark, Alderman Clay Sexson, and assistant city clerk Krystal Austen.
The city’s spring “Wide Yard Sale” is set for May 5 through 7. People will have the opportunity to showcase some of their valuables and sell them to residents.
Hundreds of bargain hunters can drive from yard to yard along the city streets to find secondhand goods. During this event, residents can also enjoy socializing with their neighbors.
The following week, May 12 through 14, will be a citywide cleanup to clean up Goodman after the previous week’s yard sale. This will be on Mother’s day weekend.
If some residents can’t make it to this coming year’s spring yard sale, they’ll have another chance for the fall citywide yard sale. That yard-sale event will be on Sept. 8 through 10, and the cleanup will be the following weekend from the 15th through the 17th.
The city discussed returning to the street improvement project. This will include reviewing various bids from construction companies that have already bid for the project.
“I think this is the time to get started because spring is coming up,” said Bunch.
Fisher proposed the city use “the bids from last time” so they can reach out to anyone that previously offered their services. The packet received last year had “four or five” bids.
All interested ones should keep an eye out for the city’s social media sites, as they’ll use some of these platforms to get the word out. These sites will have contact information.
The city took a moment to discuss whether certain streets should have “chip and seal” pavement restoration or complete asphalt paving.
“Chip seal” is a pavement surface treatment that combines one or more layers of asphalt with one or more layers of fine aggregates such as sand, gravel, crushed stones, and other materials. This is a more inexpensive option when comparing the two methods.
Sexson offered a suggestion: “If we’re looking at (maybe) $5 a mile for asphalt, and it costs $1.50 per
mile to chip and seal some of the less traveled roads, we could definitely save the city some money.” (These prices are just for reference and not official.)
This option would save money by patching up the less traveled streets while using the funds for the more busy roads such as highways or main roads.
On the other hand, Fisher advised the city to follow a different approach.
“If we can do it once now and be done with it,” said Fisher. “We’ll never have to deal with it again.”
Some might ask, “Why not just ask the bidders or construction companies which method is best?”
“If you were selling concrete, you wouldn’t be the one I go to ask if this was a better way to go,” said Fisher. The problem lies in the potential conflict of interest. This doesn’t mean all businesses operate this way; it’s just a safety precaution for both parties.
Referring to the asphalt pavement method, Fisher says he “guarantees without hesitation that all (chip and seal) is gonna do is just put a band-aid on” the road. He asserts that paving the roads with asphalt will last the roads a much longer time.
Sexson also brought to the table that “maintenance is also cheaper on chip and seal as well because it doesn’t take as much asphalt and stuff like that to repair” it.
As the next step in this process, the city will review bids from various construction companies. They’ll also reevaluate which streets need the most restoration.
As of now, the city is weighing its options, whether to save money via “chip and seal” or “have everything done at once” with asphalt paving which will benefit the city for the long term.
In other business, the city paid its bills in the amount of $10,492.28.