News : Street smarts: 3rd, 13th projects causing headaches for Vinton leaders

Many cracks on 13th Street have been blamed on a subgrade put in place without soil samples taken beforehand. At recent Vinton City Council meetings, leaders have been discussing problems with one of the city's oldest streets, as well as one of its most recent street replacement projects. Both projects involve letters from lawyers, and issues that may not be resolved until 2018. Within view of the City Hall parking lot, the East Third Street replacement project has encountered several issues, said Nate Kass, an engineer with the Ferr-Graham engineering company of Cedar Rapids. Kass, who has updated the council on the project at recent meetings, said that crews discovered a variety of problems concerning utilities that had been buried under the street. Some of the water and sewer lines were not marked; a fiber optics line that was not shown on the map was cut early in the project, causing a service interruption for many who live in that area. At a council meeting last month, city officials learned that with 50 percent of the working days already past, the project was just 30 percent complete. Kass, however, told the council that the project is back on track. "It should start looking like a street soon," he said. A letter from a lawyer representing the Dave Schmitt construction company asked the city leaders to approve an 11- working day extension because of the additional labor required to deal with the utility issues. The council allowed a seven-day extension, and delayed approving the additional four days until later. The extension does not affect the city's cost, but could impact the construction company; the contract includes a per-day fee for not finishing the project on time. The council learned that the delays already mean that seeding of the grass near the newly-completed road will have to wait until the spring of 2018. 3rd street problems continue to worsen In 2013, the city council approved a complete restructuring of 13th Street, from C Avenue to 2nd Avenue, using bond issue funds. The city accepted a bid from Anstoetter Construction of Farley, which completed the work in the summer of 2014. Already, however, there are several long, deep cracks in the surface of the pavement. The issue, says City Manager Chris Ward, is not the concrete work, but the type of subgrade used. The main problem says Ward, who began working for the city after the street was paved, is that there were no soil samples taken before the project began. City officials have determined that the subgrade used on 13th does not match the soil type or moisture, causing the problems. Kass told the council that the Anstoetter exectutives have told the city the problem is not with their work. The council has directed City Attorney Robert Fischer to draft a letter asking for arbitration. Under arbitration, the city could negotiate a settlement with Anstoetter, to avoid litigation.