Dateline: September 11, 2003

Meeting answers paving questions

By Roger Estlack, Clarendon Enterprise

A town hall meeting concerning the city’s proposed paving project was held Monday night in the courtroom of the Donley County Courthouse with some 60 people in attendance.

Mayor Tex Selvidge welcomed the crowd, and Enterprise editor Roger Estlack moderated the question and answer session.

Those attending on behalf of the city included City Administrator Sean Pate, city engineers Che Shadle and Michael Adams of OJD Engineering, financial advisor Vince Viaille of First Southwest Company, and Rich Oller and Damien Esquivel of Oller Engineering.

The panel answered questions from the audience, which ranged from covering the design of the plan to the financing of the plan to the future maintenance of the streets. The following is a sample of the questions and answers from Monday night’s meeting.

Q. How were the streets chosen?

A. The city first drew up a Master Plan that would pave about 95 percent of the town. The cost estimate was between $5 million and $5.5 million, and so the city asked its engineers to scale back the plan. The 152 blocks to be paved were selected based on traffic volume and water flows.

Q. Who will maintain the streets?

A. The city employees will be trained in proper ways to repair the streets, including squaring off any holes that need to be cut and correct patching methods. Additionally, the city is looking at becoming a part of a rotating seal-coat plan which allows several cities to go together to seal a certain number of streets on a regular schedule. This will extend the life-span of the paving and greatly reduce the need for daily maintenance.

Q. Why doesn’t the city do that now?

A. Because the streets have deteriorated to such a point that there is no way to effectively make lasting repairs. Even if the current holes were squared off and repaired, they are surrounded by deteriorating pavement and improperly patched holes. Rich Oller, whose company operates a rotating seal-coat plan, said that Clarendon currently only has three or four streets that he would even consider working on.

Q. Does the $2.5 million include the cost of future maintenance?

A. No. The city will have to plan for future maintenance and set aside that money in future budgets. The seal coat plan will need to be started in five or six years, and that should allow the city time to prepare for that expense.

Q. What about the existing utilities underneath the streets?

A. The utilities will be located before construction begins. In some places, where the water or sewer lines are too shallow, it will be necessary to move those lines. This work will be done by the city. In the future, as the city gets grants to replace water and sewer lines, those utilities may be relocated into the right-of-way behind the new curbs.

Q. Won’t the city have to dig into the streets to fix those utilities?

A. Yes, but by squaring off the holes and patching them correctly, this should not be a problem. Then when that street is recovered under a rotating seal-coat plan, those scars should disappear.

Q. Who will be inspecting the construction of the paving?

A. OJD Engineering. Che Shadle and Michael Adams are both licensed engineers with the company, and they live in Clarendon and will be looking at the work constantly.

Q. Will there be any guarantee that the work will last?

A. The construction company will have to give a bond to basically guarantee the work from being defective. This usually covers a period of 12 months. Additionally, OJD Engineering will be liable if there are any flaws in the design of the plan.

Q. How wide will the streets be?

A. The streets will be 31 feet from the back of the curb to the back of the curb.

Q. My street is plotted to be wider than 31 feet. What happens to the rest of that area?

A. The area extending from the curb to your property will still be the city right-of-way, but it will be filled in and graded so that it slopes nicely to your yard. Property owners will be responsible for maintaining that area between their property line and the street, just as they are now.

Q. What is to prevent the bid for the work going more than $2.5 million?

A. The contractor will bid a unit price of so much a running foot. The city can then determine how many streets to do for that price. The engineers have used the highest numbers being seen for this type of work and have not tried to low-ball the cost estimate. If the bid comes in lower than expected, the city will be able to do more streets. If it comes in higher, it will have to scale back the project.

Q. Are there any grants that can help us do this project?

A. The city is currently working with $350,000 in federal and state grant money to repair streets that were damaged by flooding in 2001. These same funds are being used to improve the main pathway of storm water through the city. There may be other grants available to help with flood control. However, getting grants strictly for the purpose of paving streets is very, very slim.

Q. How much is this going to cost me?

A. The city will be levying an ad valorem tax rate of 15 cents per $100 valuation to help pay the certificates of obligation. The water rate will go up by $1.10 per month, and the sewer rate will go up by $10 per month. The total cost to the average homeowner will be $184 per year or $15.35 per month. A citizen with a $50,000 home would pay $208.20 per year or $17.35 per month.

Q. Wouldn’t it be fairer to pave all the streets?

A. Yes, if the city could afford that. But everyone will benefit from the new streets when they go to the store or go to the post office. Additionally, the new streets will improve the overall appearance of the town and make it more attractive to people and businesses looking to move here. The city hopes to eventually get  all the streets paved.

Q. What happens if the paving project is defeated in Saturday’s election?

A. Then the city basically continues doing business like it has been for several years. There may be some improvements that can be made. But since the streets are in such poor condition now, without a major paving project, it is likely that they will continue to deteriorate as time goes on.