Ohlman Street may need more work

Talk about it

Reviews on the grinding of Ohlman Street by county road crews were swift in coming Friday, the gist of comments being that the quarter-mile section is still, well, rough.

County Commissioner John Claggett said he fielded complaints early Friday about the road and found it rough when he drove it himself. He said he would bring the road’s condition to the attention of Highway Superintendent Rusty Weinberg.

County road crews used the new Asphalt Zipper road grinding machine Thursday to grind up old asphalt and gravel on the worst part of the mile-long stretch of Ohlman Street between West Eighth and West 23rd avenues. The road is jointly owned by the city and county.

Weinberg said residents need to give the road some time.

“Some chunks of asphalt probably worked their way to the surface,” he said and predicted that roadway between West Eighth and West 23rd avenues will get better as it becomes more compacted by traffic.

If it doesn’t improve sufficiently, Weinberg said that a second pass with the Zipper may be needed using a special grinder box attachment that will regrind surface materials to a finer texture. That material would then be leveled and re-compacted, he said.

Weinberg said he tore up the section of road to correct deep potholes that had developed in the broken pavement.

Claggett said Ohlman Street and other topics were discussed briefly at an informal Friday meeting of city and county officials at the City Hall offices of Mitchell Mayor Lou Sebert. Also attending was County Commission Chairman David Weitala, Mitchell Public Works Director Tim McGannon and Sebert.

Sebert said such meetings are used as a way for city and county officials to discuss concerns informally. The meetings, which occur on a roughly quarterly basis, have no formal agenda, and often include a member of the City Council, Sebert said, though no councilmember attended on Friday.

Discussion topics included Ohlman Street; dust control for Dakotafest; and possible city involvement, if the county decides to build a new structure to replace the soon-to-be demolished Tower Building.

Sebert said he and other city officials were unaware that the county was going to tackle Ohlman Street repairs on Thursday. As far as any final paving of Ohlman Street is concerned Sebert said, “I won’t speculate on what the city will do.”

He said that it’s his understanding both the city and county share responsibility for Ohlman, but city appropriated no money for its repair this year.

Sebert said the city borrowed about $329,000 for street repairs from its events center fund that must be repaid in 2011. As far as budgeting cash for Ohlman repairs go, “that’s still up in the air,” he said.

Sebert said the city’s present office space be sufficient if staffing remains at current levels, but more space may be required if a city manager and a code enforcement officer are hired.

“If that happens the city will be short of space and I think the City Council should at least take a look at possible involvement in a new county building,” he said.

The discussion also touched on Dakotafest.

Sebert said the county agreed to wet down the roadways around Dakotafest to control dust. Cygnus Farm Shows, which operates Dakotafest on East Spruce Street, had asked the city to handle dust control, but Sebert deferred to the county since the show is accessed by county roads. The mayor said the city will help with traffic control during the Aug. 17-19 show.

“We want those folks attending to have a good experience out there,” Sebert said.

Tags: ohlman street, john claggett, news, local