Corbin blacktop miscues slated for repairs this spring, Cannon says

Following complaints by commissioners about the quality of recent paving work done on city streets, Corbin City Manager Bill Ed Cannon said Tuesday the company responsible will be back next spring to make repairs.
During a work session meeting of the city’s Board of Commissioners last Monday, local leaders expressed frustration and disappointment with what they called “substandard” paving by Elmo Greer and Sons – the company the city contracted with to perform the resurfacing. After meeting with one company official last week, and inspecting the road in question, Cannon said he feels confident all the problems will be resolved.
“They aren’t going to do anything until next spring because they really can’t because of the weather and temperatures,” Cannon said. “Whatever problems there are they will take care of them.”
Cannon called most of the issues “cosmetic” and said none of the complaints were related to the structural integrity of the streets.
Commissioner Joe Shelton was the first to complain about the work at last week’s meeting, saying he toured the town on bike and noticed what he considered shoddy work. He noted that the road doesn’t slope properly in some areas to ensure proper drainage, and said many areas of newly laid blacktop are rough or have visible, unsightly seams, and that in some places the pavement does not slope gently into residential driveways, instead dropping off sharply. Mayor Amos Miller pointed out that on Roosevelt Street, the blacktop seems to be two different colors.
Cannon said more Corbin streets than ever were milled this year to try to alleviate drainage issues. He said the city opted to replace the surface with a thinner one-inch cap of blacktop instead of the more customary one and a half or two inches. Commissioners speculated that the amount of blacktop was not enough to roll out smoothly during the cooler weather in which it was laid.
Ron LaFary, a Sales Representative and Projects Manager for Elmo Greer and Sons, agreed and said he was unaware of any problems until he heard media reports regarding complaints at the meeting. He vowed the company would address the issues.
“Obviously, the one inch blacktop we put down in the cool temperatures played a big role,” Cannon said. “Since we did so much milling, we are trying to reestablish some drainage and I didn’t’ want to fill it all up again and create the same problems. I didn’t want to undo what we tried to gain in milling.”
Cannon said he is expecting a letter from the company in the near future regarding the issue.
The city spent about $250,000 this year on road resurfacing work.
Shelton also questioned how city inspectors failed to see the problems while the blacktop was being piled on the roads. Cannon said though a concern, he doesn’t think any changes are needed to the inspection process.