Thanks to some bending of the rules, the city is finally able to get going on the Water Street sinkhole and sewer line. Kevin Coleman was at last night's Chillicothe Council.
Council had waived the formal bidding process June 27th, which allowed bids to start coming in now to repair the break in the sewer main at Water and Watt streets.
Mayor Like Feeney says they now hope to have the work done by 90 days in. They are at about day 55.
He said the good news was that the sinkhole led the city to send a video camera farther down the sewer line, where they found that about 1,200 feet of century-old concrete pipe was at the end of its lifespan.
That additional length is in imminent danger of collapse, so Feeney says a contractor will save the city the huge expense of digging a trench about nine feet deep to replace the pipe by blowing in a new liner. The liner will unroll like a sock down the pipe to create a new, permanent, modern seal.
The cost of the sinkhole work will be $65,000 to 70,000. The lining repair will be only about $300,000.
Previous stories on the sinkhole:
Sewer Work at at Water and Watt in Chillicothe Extended More (June 10th)
Feeney also mentioned that that street paving should start within the next two weeks, with ADA sidewalk ramp work.
Council member Allison Henderson reported that a group of council members to explore options for the homeless is now working with Continuum of Care, and their next meeting will be August 6th.
The council session is also on Youtube. (Henderson's New Business report on the homeless is at 1:10.)
Kevin Coleman covers local government and culture