Council approves bid for chip seal project

Chip sealing will take place later this year in the City of Three Forks for the first time in about a decade.

At a meeting earlier this month, the Three Forks City Council unanimously voted to approve the City Engineer's and Streets & Alley's Committee recommendation of Street Maintenance District #1 Chip Seal Project Bid Award to Hollow Contracting Inc. for $286,785.35.

According to City Treasurer Kelly Smith, this will be the first time the municipality has done a chip season in around ten years.

Mayor Randy Johnston added the city used to do it every three years and the streets need a good seal.

Before the vote, City Councilmember and Streets & Alley Committee member Garret Buchanan said they decided not to go with a "fancy oil" for the project. He said this type of oil would only be applicable if they were trying to get people back on the road in the shortest amount of time as possible, hours instead of a day. He added that the areas that will be chip sealed are high-traffic areas, but it won't dispute the traffic flow for longer than the project's short duration.

"The difference between 20 percent faster drying time is really not applicable for Three Forks. If it was a major freeway, it'd be worth it. But I don't think it be worth quite that much money," he said.

The estimated cost of savings from not using the faster drying oil is $16,000.

Buchanan said they also went with the lowest bidder, which would save the city $20,000.

"I'm glad we were able to do something," Johnston said.