Taylor Town Council Approves Tie In To County Contract To Slurry Seal Streets

Spaulding proposed a slurry seal on all roads in Taylor at a cost of $747,000, with the exception of Love Lake Road, which will be a project under an Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) contract. It was noted that the town must pay the cost of the work on Love Love Road, which is estimated at $250,000, and then would be reimbursed by the state.

Spaulding explained that there were some pot holes, but a private contractor has taken care of those, leaving some edging work on the east side of town.

In response to Palmer’s question regarding how long a seal coat would last, Spaulding said that it is normally three years before oxidation takes place and cracks start to form.

Palmer then asked the cost of what was done previously.

Spaulding responded that it was $800,000, and noted that it has been four years since the last seal coat.

Responding to another question from Palmer, Spaulding said there are three types of seal coat and there is an overlay, explaining that another option could require tearing out a road. “Our problem is when we did Paper Mill Road we tore that out and redid it. That was $80,000 for that small stretch,” said the engineer, noting they would like to seal coat roads and then maintain them.

“How are we able to do this without letting it out to bid?” asked Mayor Fay Hatch.

Spaulding explained that if a public entity goes out to bid and the town uses that entity’s standards, then the bidding is done and the town could tie into it, saving money.

“I remember when they did this (the slurry seal four years ago), it looked really good when they were doing it, it looked really good after they did it, but within just a few weeks after, things started happening,” said Palmer noting that it started peeling and cracking. “It looked more like a paint job than some type of road.”

Palmer suggested rather than a bandaid all over town they use the money and repair the roads that need it the most with a 14 to 20-year fix rather than a paint job. “It would look good on those fortunate streets for four years and those other streets would be unbelievable,” said Spaulding. “It’s almost impossible to fix them up,” further stating that the roads would be maintained this time.

Mayor Hatch said he felt one problem with overlay is that it increases the height of the street, which he felt they didn’t need.

“What I’m seeing here is we either do the seal or we do a combination of both,” said Councilman Jared Hatch, who noted that when he first saw this item he took Spaulding out and did some cost calculations. Hatch explained that when the road oxidizes, it loses the oil and resealing rejuvenates the oil so the road will last longer. He said the roads need to be maintained after being repaired, and that hasn’t been getting done.

“I think Stu is doing a great job going where he’s going,” said Hatch, noting that they would need to start maintaining the roads.

Councilman Gary Solomon asked where the $747,000 would come from and Spaulding explained the town has saved Highway User Revenue Funds (HURF) for this project and the Love Lake Road project.

Responding to a question from Palmer, Finance Director Gus Lundberg said that the town will receive an estimated $450,000 in HURF funds, but it varies by what is collected through taxation by the state.

Town Manager Eric Duthie commented that just that day they received information from the state that the legislature had approved a budget with no more sweeps for the Motor Vehicle Department, and the Department of Public Safety is down to a $120 million budget.

Palmer suggested that they use a portion of the HURF money and budget for a vacuum or road sweeper, stating, “Not only would our town look better, but I think the roads would last longer.”

A motion to approve materials and service from American Pavement Preservation to slurry seal town streets as agreed upon through Navajo County’s contract passed unanimo