City Exploring Plan to Fix Streets

With local streets deteriorating and budget constraints limiting what can be done, the Olney City Council is exploring a regional partnership with neighboring cities to share labor and materials costs.

Council member Ronnie Cowert proposed reviving the “chip-and-seal” method Olney used decades ago to maintain its streets. The method—applying a layer of asphalt followed by gravel—was previously used in partnership with nearby cities to reduce costs.

“Our streets are terrible,” Mr. Cowert said at the Council’s June 9 meeting. “But some of the ones we treated years ago are still in decent shape. If we could instigate something like that again, we could salvage what we do have.”

Mr. Cowert recalled a time when Olney joined with nearby towns to jointly contract street repairs, which lowered costs by allowing the paving company to tackle multiple cities in one pass.

City Administrator Simon Dwyer said he has already begun conversations with two other city managers about sharing equipment, labor, and contracting resources. The collaboration would be modeled after a “lend-lease” arrangement— cities could loan one another workers or machinery for a few days, or jointly hire contractors for bulk repairs.

“There are several different ways we could go about this,” Dwyer said. “We’re looking at whether cities could share equipment or even contract together with a large paving company. The goal is to get the most bang for our buck.”

Mr. Dwyer also outlined the challenges of using different asphalt mixes, explaining that the higher-quality hot mix sets up too quickly for Olney’s small staff to apply without waste.

“We want the better product,” he said, “but the logistics make it tough unless we have help. That’s where partnering with other cities could make it feasible.”

The City is also evaluating whether it can store and use cheaper mixes that remain workable for longer, allowing city crews to patch potholes over time.

Mayor Rue Rogers and the Council expressed support for the idea and encouraged Mr. Dwyer to continue talks with surrounding cities.

“We’re going to have to get all three of us together— and maybe a fourth or fifth—and see if we can generate even more assistance and lessen the tax burden,” Mr. Dwyer said.

While no formal action was taken, Council members agreed that regional cooperation could be a practical and fiscally responsible path forward for improving Olney’s infrastructure.