HUMBOLDT — Dan Julich, city councilman, laid out plans Monday night for how returns from a half-cent sales tax would improve Humboldt streets. About 25 residents attended the special meeting.
The tax will be decided in a mail-ballot referendum. Ballots went out this week and must be returned to the Allen County clerk’s office by noon Sept. 11, in person or by mail.
With Allen County’s assistance, streets will be milled, bases rebuilt where necessary and overlaid with asphalt, Julich said.
That would be a radical change from the past, when Humboldt depended on periodic chip-and-seal treatment to maintain roads.
“Asphalt will last 20 years or more, while chip-and-seal has to be done every five years,” Julich said.
“And chip-and-seal is just to keep water” from seeping into a street’s base and causing it to deteriorate, said Bill King, director of Public Works for the county.
Other work that would be done in the 15-year program costing about $1.7 million would be reconstruction of curbs, guttering and failed culverts.
“There won’t be any new curb and guttering,” Julich said.
Money would come from $88,000 a year raised by the sales tax and about $50,000 Humboldt receives annually from fuel tax distributions. Money also would be set aside each year for maintenance of streets awaiting rebuild.
Julich stressed the county’s assistance was an important part of the project.
The county “always has helped us with street work,” he added.
“We have the rock, machinery and men (with road-building expertise),” chimed in King. “We’ll build up the base where it’s needed.”
In response to an observation from Richard Weilert that with economic problems “this is the worst time” to start such a project, King countered, “There’s probably not a better time. The cost of asphalt is only going to go up,” along with oil used in chip-and-seal.
Not all streets will be rebuilt from the ground up, King added. With some, leveling and smoothing courses of asphalt may be all that’s needed.
A side benefit, he added, is that material ground from roads may be available for driveways and alleys, which, when compressed by use, would become much like asphalt.
What if the referendum fails?
“We’ll continue with chip-and-seal,” Julich said. “We wouldn’t have the money to do anything else.”
