Some downtown bump-outs are taking a beating
By Per Peterson
Just a few months after eight bump-outs were added to Tracy’s downtown, issues have arisen.
One of the bump-outs — at the intersection of 3rd and Rowland streets in front of Minnwest Bank — has started to break apart.
At last week’s Tracy City Council meeting, council member Ron Koopman asked why cement has broken loose.
“It was laying in the street (and) apparently someone from the street department came and cleaned it up,” Koopman said. “My question is, if this continues, who’s paying for this?”
Tracy City Administrator Erik Hansen said the street work, including curbs, does have a warranty on it.
“Sometime later this summer we’ll do a full inspection on everything to see if there is any additional warranty work,” said Hansen. “We know there are some things that have to happen this spring — there is sod that still needs to be replaced that we couldn’t do in the fall. We’ll do a full inspection to see if there is anything that will be warranty work.”
Hansen said last week that he wasn’t sure if this particular damage would be covered since he doesn’t know how the damage occurred.
“It’s conceivable that it’s normal wear-and-tear, or an accident, or a snow truck … I don’t know,” he said. “We’ll look into it.”
Koopman believes the damage occurred after the snow was gone, so it couldn’t have been caused by snow removal equipment. When asked by Hansen what he would like the City to do, Koopman reiterated that he would like to know how repairs will be paid for.
“The answer is that it depends,” Hansen said. “It depends on who’s responsibility it is. There’s a warranty associated with it, and if it’s part of the warranty work because it wasn’t done the way it was supposed to, then the contractor, Duininck, would pay for it. If it’s because somebody bumped it or something else happened … it depends. I can’t tell you that it’s always gonna be on the contractor. It’s out there in the open.”
See this week’s Headlight Herald for more on this article.