Gilbert: Cookeville Should Consider Potential For Paving Minor Projects In-House

Cookeville City Council Member Chad Gilbert said he believes the city should consider performing some of its own paving projects.

Gilbert said most paving is usually conducted by a private firm. He said while the contractors are good what they do, it might make more sense and help the city in the long run to pave smaller projects themselves.

“We need to be nimble enough to deal with small issues that make a big impact,” Gilbert said. “You’re talking about roads and you’re talking about driveability and you can make a bigger deal out of this and talk about that’s your quality of life living in Cookeville, and maybe it is, but we need to be nimble enough to deal with those things.”

Gilbert said he and Public Works Director Blake Mayo have had conversations about tools that could make the process easier. He said there is also potential to expand the lifespan of roads that way.

However, Gilbert said he does not believe the city needs to be in the business of large, wholesale highway paving. He said there is nothing wrong with having maintenance capabilities that can go a step further than just fixing a pothole.

“Maybe we need to fix ten or twenty feet of something or a little bit of milling or that kind of thing, we’d be able to do some of that on a small scale,” Gilbert said. “Paving is a difficult thing that’s unique. Hot mix is territorial, you have to keep it hot, and you have to have some availability here locally. Timing of that, the roads may not always break down on the timing of when a local private contractor can get to make a repair that really needs to be done sooner rather than later.”

Gilbert said he thinks the city can find a sweet spot in that market, and potentially get more bang for its buck.