The project became necessary earlier this year when the Texas Department of Transportation ran out money before overlaying of the street was completed.
TxDOT originally had intended to seal coat part of South St. Mary’s Street from the Poesta Creek to the area on North St. Mary’s that had once been the road bed for the Southern Pacific Railroad line.
That was to provide resurfacing of the thoroughfare after crews with Hunter Industries of San Marcos completed drainage improvements along the downtown stretches of North Washington and North St. Mary’s streets.
The state agency had budgeted enough funds to lay down a hot mix overlay of North Washington Street once the drainage work had been completed and seal coating had been applied
TxDOT officials then told the City Council that they thought they had enough money left in their budget for the project to apply a hot mix overlay on all of St. Mary’s Street that had been affected by the drainage work.
Then, once the work began, TxDOT realized it would not be able to afford an overlay of the entire stretch of North St. Mary’s.
The work stopped at the north end of the 200 block of the street and the 300 and 400 blocks were left only seal coated.
However, that left a rough surface on those two blocks and Mayor Pro Tem Mike Scotten mentioned at a recent City Council meeting that he had received some calls from motorists complaining about the condition of those two blocks.
City Manager Tom Ginter assured Scotten that he had discussed the condition of the street with Street Superintendent Albert Bridge and that the problem would be addressed.
TIF Board President Joe B. Montez had Ginter and Bridge report their estimates on the cost of the project. Bridge quoted what it would cost for the rock and the tack oil that would have to be applied before the overlay mix could be applied.
He said the rock would cost the city a little more than $10,000 and it would take another $1,300 to buy the tack oil for the job.
The cost of fuel for hauling the rock from Uvalde to stockpile in the city equipment yard would be about $2,600.
Ginter said the city crews might accomplish the job by applying one truck load of the overlay at a time. But Bridge said his intent was to keep the materials at the city’s equipment yard on South Jackson Street and then apply it all during a two-day process.
Bridge said about 850 feet of the street would need to be overlayed.
Bridge said he also would be interested in buying some equipment that could be installed on each of the manhole covers on both North St. Mary’s and North Washington streets that would allow his men to reinstall the covers so that they would be flush with the pavement.
Montez told the board that the TIF still had $18,000 left over after paying the city’s portion of the drainage improvements and overlaying project.
Montez made the motion to approve the request and board member Scott Childress seconded it.
Board members Louise Hall, Dave Moore and Gilbert Herrera then voted along with them to approve the motion.
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