By Kevin J. Sabo
For the Advance
The Town of Castor council is unimpressed with the work done on Main Street by the province.
Town of Castor administration received word provincial contractors would be coming in over the July third and fourth weekend to re-seal Highway 599 (Main Street) from 45 St to the bridge at the east end of town.
The work got done; however, it ended up taking until July seventh, and the quality of the work far from impressed council.
“I’ve never seen that particular product before,” said Mayor Richard Elhard.
“It doesn’t seem like a finished product.”
Chief Administrative Officer Christopher Robblee agreed.
“The drains are full of tar,” said Robblee.
“The gutters are piled up with tar.”
In addition to the unfinished look of the work, several sections of the sealant used have already started coming off.
With all this information in mind, Robblee contacted Alberta Transportation (who contracted the project) who then forwarded the concerns to contractor. As of the July 12 meeting, Robblee had not had a response to his inquiry.
“I would keep pushing it, if you don’t mind,” said Elhard.
Potholes
Town of Castor administration was under fire from council members during the July 12 meeting, regarding the potholes in town.
“I’ve (received) at least five calls for potholes,” said Elhard. “How do we rectify this problem?”
As part of the Town of Castor’s road maintenance budget, $44,000 a year is allocated for pothole filling material.
“Last year, we used all our pothole material,” said Robblee. “We use up the material every year.”
Deputy Mayor Tony Nichols stated his opinion that if that is the case then “we need to be ordering more.”
“No potholes have been fixed since the last meeting,” said Coun. Rod Zinger.
Robblee said that his “understanding is that (public works) has been fixing potholes” and that he would be bringing a list to the next meeting of all the road work that has been done.
Elhard described public works dealing with potholes as “hodgepodge” and “without rhyme or reason.”
“(The pothole filling) needs a plan,” said Coun. Kevin McDougall.
Robblee said that he would have “clear answers” for the next meeting, and he would become more involved in pothole filling planning.