(11/1) At the November 9th town Council meeting, the Director of Public Works, Joe Burch, told the Town Council that they had received a report from the County Roads Department listing a range of issues related to the condition on the storm water culverts on Biggs Ford and Devilbiss Bridge Roads that will cost an estimated $58,000 in mandatory repairs.

The culverts are cement structures that provide a throughway for rainwater to travel under the road without flooding the road surface. Town Manager Sean Williams said that their last inspection was back in 2019. While guardrail damage listed in the report on the Devilbiss Bridge Road culvert was apparent, town staffs were not aware of any other concerns with the culverts prior to receiving the report.

Williams noted that the Town had not budgeted for this money, and as Birch put it, they were "blindsided by the report." Birch acknowledged that Public Works had received an email about one and a half months ago regarding the culvert inspections, though nothing could have made them anticipate the lengthy report.

The $18,000 in estimated repairs on the Biggs Ford culvert includes repairing one of the cracked four cements pipes that make up the culvert. While this pipe failure needs to be addressed as soon as possible, it does not pose an imminent threat of the pipe collapsing resulting in a collapse of the road surface above the pipe.

The $40,000 in repairs to Devillbiss Bridge Road culvert including fixing cracks in the ‘headwall’ – or the face of the culvert that directs water into the pipes under the road surface, and repaving the road surface afterward. This culvert will also need a new guardrail as the current one is noticeably damaged. Williams said this damage was likely due to a vehicle, leaving the vertical posts intact while warping the horizontal part of the guardrail. This may allow the Town to save money by replacing only the horizontal piece.

Birch added that while some of the work identified in the report like vegetation removal, cleanup, and painting can be done by Public Works staff, much will need to go off to bid.

Commissioner Brodie-Ennis recommended that the Town target critical items first, to which Birch replied that the entire repair order needed to be considered critical, and it was important to fit in these repairs as soon as possible. He added that if the inspectors see fit, the County could shut down the road until it is taken care of. For time’s sake, Burgess Weddle recommended putting the two items out to bid while they check to see if the cost could be covered by the infrastructure bill they were granted.

Commissioner Tom Gilbert motioned to approve Burgess Weddle’s proposal of sending the two items to bid, to which it was seconded by Commissioner Bailey and received unanimous support by the rest of the council.