Arnold to Wait on Certain Street Replacements

The City of Arnold will delay any street repairs on Harmony Lane and other streets that need sewer repairs.

“Those streets are still a high priority,” Public Works Director Bryson Baker said to city council members during last Thursday’s planning session at City Hall, at 2101 Jeffco Blvd.

Sewer repairs and the water infiltration study must be completed prior to laying down new asphalt streets, Baker said.

Public works employees will continue to fill potholes in the numerous streets, he said. Replacing an entire street's surface will occur after the sewers are repaired.

In a city finance committee meeting prior to the work session, City Administrator Matt Unrein said it made little sense to pay for a new street when it would be destroyed to access the sewers for construction in the coming months or year.

Ward 1 Councilman Doris Borgelt first mentioned the Harmony Lane repairs during the finance committee meeting.

“We really need to get caught up on street repairs,” Borgelt said.

Mayor Ron Counts agreed with Borgelt and said Arnold needed to set priorities for the tax monies.

Along with street repairs, Arnold needs new snow removal trucks and a repair mechanic dedicated to working on the city’s machines, Counts said.

“The city’s population exploded. It grew very quickly,” Counts said. The increased population caused increased machine use and more breakdowns.

Former City Administrator John Brazeal, who sits on the finance committee and is the Affton School District Business Director, said street repairs are increasingly more costly as damage occurs.

“Damage in the first year, for example, may cost $1,000 but three years of damage may cost $5,000,” Brazeal said.

“We’re really being penny-wise and dollar foolish,” Ward 3 Councilman Phil Amato said.

Sealing cracks in the road will prevent damaging water from getting under the asphalt or concrete, creating potholes and ruining the subdivisions, Amato said.