The striping of River Road has once again been put on hold. But this time, the beginning of the overdue project lies on the city’s street department.
Wayne Morrison, city engineer, told the city council during its board meeting Monday that he has been working with the contractor to begin the work on the Ward 1 street.
“We have instructed the striper to go to work on River Road as it was instructed at the last city board meeting,” Morrison said. “I have written that letter to Lane Lining to put it in their schedule of work.”
But Morrison said the contractor said it could not begin the project until the street was properly swept.
“We do have to get the roads swept by the city,” Morrison said. “I understand that right now our broom (street sweeper) is broken and is either being repaired or we will have to borrow from someone else who does have one.”
Alderman Ron Johnson appeared frustrated at yet another delay in a project he has pushed for since he came into office three years ago.
“As far as I know, they have been working on the sweeper since last year,” said Mayor Diane Delaware, in reference to the street department. “So, I can’t...I try.”
The board said the street department hasn’t put the street sweeper to use in quite some time.
“The street department has been working on it for three or four years,” added Alderman Dr. Jack Varner.
Public Works Director Walter Williams was not present during this week’s board meeting. No other representative from the department was sent in his place.
“I am wondering why there is nobody here from public works here,” Johnson asked.
“You know why,” Delaware replied. “Don’t ask me that. Because he didn’t send anyone. We all know the answer to this question. I am not really wanting to get into it. The answer is the answer, and we know it. We all know the answer around this table. We can just pretend all we want.”
Morrison said he doesn’t have an exact date of when the work could begin on the River Road project. But he said the contractor would provide a few days worth of notice.
