The Oktibbeha County Board of Supervisors is considering a new method to improve the county”s vast network of unpaved roads: an enzyme.
The board Monday heard a proposal from Georgia-based Omega Paving and Construction to stabilize 100 miles of unpaved county roads with Pave-Zyme, or PZ-22X, which is designed to create a cementing action when mixed with water and soil in a road base. County roads treated with PZ-22X then would be covered with a chip seal surface pavement, composed largely of tar and crushed rock, instead of standard asphalt.
The 100-mile chip seal project would cost $7.5 million, or $75,000 per mile, but the county only would be obligated to pay $500,000, said Omega Paving President and Chief Executive Officer Thomas Settles. The remaining funding would come from investors through a hedge fund and a non-recourse self-liquidating loan, Settles said.
Oktibbeha County already has tested PZ-22X on New Light Road and Cannon Road and those sections of roadway remain in good condition, said District 2 Supervisor Orlando Trainer. Settles said roads which undergo the PZ-22X treatment and chip sealing typically remain “maintenance-free” for eight to 10 years.
District 1 Supervisor Carl Clardy was intrigued by Settles” proposal, considering citizens attend nearly every board meeting to request improvements to their roads.
“If you”re going to get all these roads done for $500,000, you”d be crazy not to,” Clardy said of the enzyme proposal.
The board took no action on the plan, but could revisit the issue in the future. Trainer was hopeful his fellow supervisors would consider the 100-mile proposal or an option with lesser mileage.
“What we”re trying to do is come up with a non-traditional way of getting things done,” Trainer said. “The main intent is to get residents out of the dust and the dirt. I think this will be a good alternative in a lot of areas that are not as heavily populated…”
It typically costs the county more than $300,000 to purchase rights-of-way, clear and build one mile of road, Trainer said, so the chip seal proposal would save taxpayers money.
Trainer has pleaded with the board in the past to put a bond issue on the ballot for county voters to pay for improvements to approximately 250 miles of unpaved roads in Oktibbeha County. Fellow board members have been leery however, fearing a tax increase would be necessary to pay for a bond issue.
In other business Monday, the Board of Supervisors approved the Oktibbeha County Economic Development Authority”s $591,000 fiscal budget and discussed parking issues at the Oktibbeha County Courthouse. Parking in the lot behind the courthouse is reserved for people there on county business, but patrons of downtown restaurants frequently use the lot and fill its spaces.
The Board of Supervisors agreed to meet with county employees who use the courthouse lot and devise a solution to the parking problem. Supervisors discussed the possibility of towing unauthorized vehicles and installing a gate, among other options.
The Clay County Board of Supervisors also met Monday morning and approved a resolution to ask the Tombigbee River Valley Water Management District to clean up two miles of McGee Creek, beginning at Highway 50 East and heading south. The Water Management District still would have to approve the request.
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