Earle set to pave Apollo Acres

Earle set to pave Apollo Acres

Neighborhood streets to get overdue attention

news@theeveningtimes.com

Earle will go ahead and fix the potholes in Apollo Acres and may even make some drainage improvements to alleviate flooding.

The city council voted to accept the low bid of $5,700 from Cache River Paving & Asphalt of Jonesboro to fill potholes in the subdivision.

“It needs attention,” said Councilwoman Jimmie Barham. “Every time we have done (street) work, we have omitted Apollo Acres.

So it needs help.”

The council had held off selecting a contractor last month in order to get more information about what each bid included.

The other bidder, Crisp Contractors of West Memphis, bid $14,000 for the job. Councilman Donnie Cheers asked City Clerk Cynthia Conner to ask whether the $14,000 included merely fixing the holes, or a complete overlay of the streets.

Conner told the council that Crisp’s bid was to only fix the potholes.

“The $14,000 was just for repair,” Conner said.

Cache River’s bid specifies cutting out and removing the potholes and filling them with hot mix asphalt and applying tack and overlay with a minimum of two inches of asphalt.

Several members of the council though, pointed out that Apollo Acres isn’t as bad as they had been led to believe by Mayor Carolyn Jones.

“It needs attention. But it’s not that bad,” said Councilman Robert Malone. “I’ve been there four times in the last couple of weeks and it is not as bad as we’ve been told. We’ve got holes around town that are as big as ditches. It’s not that bad.”

Councilman Donnie Cheers agreed and said the city shouldn’t spend $15,000 fixing Apollo Acres.

“There are some holes out there,” Cheers said. “But there isn’t $15,000 worth of potholes in Apollo Acres.

And as somebody already said, we have some really deep holes in this city.”

Cheers pointed out that Apollo Acres is in a flood plain and is concerned that if they fill the holes it will just wash away.

“I don’t think $5,000 is bad,” Cheers said. “But are we going to put it in an area we know floods? If we know it’s not going to get any better, why would we put $15,000 in there? I thought Crisp with $15,000 was going to overlay. I think we should take the second bid for $5,000 and have the potholes fixed.”

Barham said while she agrees the situation in Apollo Acres isn’t as bad as it was made out to be, the subdivision has been left out of previous rounds of street repair and it is time to give it the attention it needs.

“You’ve heard the mayor say I don’t care anything about them and that I am such a terrible councilwoman because I have just left them go to pot,” Barham said. “I’m only one vote out of eight, but we voted we would do Apollo Acres before anything else and I thought that’s what we had advertised. If we fix four or five potholes, at least we ought to do something. As bad as it is, it needs attention. The whole city needs attention. But Apollo Acres hasn’t gotten anything and it needs help.

So I move we do Apollo Acres before anything else.”

Councilman Jesse Selvy said the city also needs to fix the drainage issues there.

“You’ve got a culvert that is messed up and water can’t drain under,” Selvy said. “We need a ditch to go all around there.”

The present ditch is overgrown and filled with debris.

Selvy suggested the road department take its backhoe and clear out the ditch, or possibly ask the county or drainage district for assistance.

Conner said the city has money in its drainage fund to make some repairs if they choose.

By Mark Randall