Main Street To Be Reopened

The cost of repairing the sink hole went from costing approximately $28,000 to an estimate $4,500 to repair, not counting engineering costs. That's a remarkable difference that we can only attribute to using your own labor to do all the preparatory work. Village officials previously announced that it was going to cost around $28 grand to repair that piece of Main St. That was the average cost bandied about after three informal bids were sought. Bids were submitted by Pusateri Excavating, Lisbon contractor Larry Martin and Wellsville contractor Stan Cunningham. Those figures were reported by Mayor Joe Surace at a Property Committee meeting held March 3. The Village already had engineering specifications done by G,G&J for the contractors to bid on earlier this year.

The sink hole located on Main Street near the intersection at 17th Street is thought to have been caused by the tractor trailers that use that portion of roadway going to and leaving Marathon Oil and Wellsville Terminals. Originally it was hoped that those two companies would split the costs of the repairs. According to the Mayor, Marathon agreed to helping right away but Wellsville Terminals proved reluctant to make a commitment.

On March 3 of this year Property Committee Chairwoman Susan Haugh received an e-mail from Wellsville Terminals' legal adviser stating that talk of repairs to that area have been on going for five years. “Wellsville Terminals will continue to negotiate with the Village as a good corporate neighbor that, since 2006, has paid the Village in excess of $365,000, not including support of local charities” according to that e-mail. However, in the current economic climate no business feels comfortable voluntarily assuming liabilities that are largely open ended according to their legal advisor. Apparently Wellsville Terminals wanted more firm information on the exact costs before agreeing to share any costs for the repair of that sink hole. It was just in the last year that company had to temporarily close down for the lack of business during this recession that still has a grip on the nation's economy. The bulk of their business is transferring coal shipped in via river barges and trucked to Canton to make coke for steel makers.

Then in a newspaper article dated March 25 it was announced that repairs would begin the following Monday using Village Street Department employees to dig out the hole and Larry Martin Construction to do the concrete work. A temporary roadway was set up using Norfolk Southern property for trucks to travel on. That property runs parallel to Main Street.

Village workers only had to dig down approximately two feet before hitting solid dirt. No real cause has been determined for the caving in of the pavement. As of this past Tuesday morning it was announced that approximately 8” of marble base will line the bottom of the hole with 12” of reinforced concrete on top of that. As of Thursday evening the Mayor said the street will be reopened as soon as the concrete sets up. The barriers should be removed early this week.

Pictures above show the before, the hole dug out and what it looks like today. You can left click on any picture to enlarge.

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