Sunset Creek road discussion continues

Hill City Council alderman Ethan Walker led a discussion about the Sunset Creek roads during the Hill City Common Council meeting May 13. 

On April 10, city officials walked Sunset Creek with AE2S PE project engineer Callen Hecker, who specializes in roads. 

The goal was to walk the neighborhood and identify what could be done with the allocated $400,000 from the settlement agreement. These funds were placed in an account to accrue interest and have gained $4,400 in 90 days. 

“It’s not fair to anyone else that we spend a dollar more than what’s in there,” said Walker. 

In a message to city administrator Brett McMacken, Hecker said, “Upon careful consideration of the existing pavement conditions, areas have been identified for rehabilitation through either a full depth patch or with the use of a paving fabric to address moderate fatigue and evaluated with appropriate traffic loading conditions for the Sunset Creek neighborhood.”

“The pavement structure for this type of road is sufficient to decrease the overlay from two-and-a-half inches to one-and-ahalf inches,” Walker said. “Currently, it meets the minimum threshold for how the road should be. But by decreasing that overlay, the thought here is that we could stay within that $400,000 budget and get the road done.” 

Additionally, it was noted that the original plan was to have a two-foot slope of gravel on both sides of the streets. 

“Majority of Major Lake Road, Minor Lake Road and Sunset View Court were designed as a single slope road with drainage being conveyed across the pavement and into the roadside ditch in the general south by southeast direction,” Hecker said. “The evaluation performed in the field identified improper surface drainage as the main contributor to failing pavement. 

“First, grass has grown above the current elevation of the low edge of the single slope road, which acts as a natural curb to confine water on the pavement surface. Second, the roadside ditches currently do not allow for enough capacity to convey water to the existing area drains. Therefore, it is recommended that proper shouldering with gravel and the modification of the roadside ditches be incorporated as part of the pavement rehabilitation.”

Now that the city has the update, Walker said it needs to get the cost of repairs, which will have to go out for bid. 

Walker also brought up making a plan for the public works department to add in the two feet of gravel along the edges. He said this should be done as soon as possible so the water can drain. 

Finance officer Stacia Tallon said the council needs to make it an action item to go out for bid and could do so at the next meeting. 

Alderman Dale Householder said, “Sooner we get something done, the cheaper it’s going to be.” 

Hecker also said, “If Hill City desired to move forward with this recommendation, AE2S would recommend developing a new set of final plans and specifications for effective prosecution of the work.” 

Alderwoman Lori Miner asked about this. Walker said he was not sure why the city needed a new set of plans when AE2S looked at the original plans as well as core samples taken and identified the areas that needed to be cut out.

Walker said the city should get clarification on this and whether or not the $400,000 is realistic. 

A resident of Sunset Creek said the gravel on the side of the road could not go in until the paving was done because the road was too low. He also did not think gravel was a good idea because it would have to be maintained to keep the weeds out. 

Walker said the gravel was part of the original design of the road. Miner said the best guess of the engineer is the side work is usually done after the road is completed. Because the second lift was never done, the gravel on the sides was not put in. According to Walker, the road was initially paved in 2006 or 2007. 

The resident also said the road was not flat and the imperfections needed to be taken into account. 

“I just think we should keep pushing on this to try and get it done,” said Walker.

Alderman Jason Gillaspie requested putting out a bid for the Sunset Creek roads be added as an action item at a future meeting.

Mayor Mike Verchio suggested having AE2S come to Hill City for a public comment period so residents of Sunset Creek could ask questions. The residents in attendance agreed they would like to meet with AE2S. 

 

The next meeting of the Hill City Common Council is Tuesday, May 28 at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall.