Iola City Council members are less than impressed with a recent round of street improvements.
Mill and overlay projects overseen by Heckert Construction, Pittsburg, were discussed at length Monday by Council members, who complained about the quality of the work, and the manner in which the work was accomplished.
North State Street’s resurfacing drew most of the Council’s ire.
Councilman Ron Ballard said he’s fielded several complaints from residents on “the mess that was made while the work was done.”
The new asphalt surface has several rough and uneven spots, he noted, that will worsen quickly as it ages.
“I think it’s worse than it was before,” Councilman Gene Myrick added. “I’m very, very disappointed in the job that they did.”
Both Myrick and Ballard encouraged the city to either withhold part of the $627,000 payment, and ask the company to redo portions of the street.
Myrick suggested getting the city attorney involved.
Councilman Steve French pointed to the other complaint he heard from residents: crews did little to mark which lanes were open while the work was ongoing.
“People weren’t sure which lanes they were authorized to drive in,” French said,
Heckert offered up the low bid, by a sizable margin, among four companies seeking to handle IOla’s milling and overlay projects this year.
Heckert’s bid of $627,598.60 was more than $70,000 less than the next lowest bid.
The company also resurfaced stretches of Garfield, Buchanan, Jim and Sycamore streets as well as a portion of White Boulevard and Kansas Drive.
Myrick said a resident told him “you get what you pay for,” implying a bid substantially lower than the other would result in an inferior product.
SPEAKING OF citizen complaints, Myrick noted he’s also heard from residents curious about the fate of the old Harmony Health building, which was gutted by a fire earlier this spring.
The shell of the building remains, but has become an enticing home for four-legged varmints of all sizes.
