Friendswood hired highway contractor Angel Brothers Enterprises last year to repave and repair streets across the city as part of Friendswood’s annual street maintenance program. By the end of the year, some repaved roads had already cracked, Arias said in December.
“Of all the streets that were repaired, [Chester Drive] was probably the most disappointing as far as the quality of work that was completed,” Arias said March 1.
City staff met with Angel Brothers leaders, who said they were “embarrassed” with the cracking and other problems in the road. Core samples taken from the road revealed a combination of underlying causes that led the road to crack and wave, Arias said.
“They were determined to make this right,” Arias said of Angel Brothers.
The contractor has since made base repairs to sections of the street, and the contractor will seal coat the street to seal any remaining cracks. Future work on the road must be a full-depth reconstruction due to the expansive soils beneath the road, Arias said.
So far, $3.8 million has been billed on roads repaired from last year’s street maintenance program. The city will hold retainage plus a portion of billed work until all quality issues are addressed, Arias said.
Additionally, work is continuing on the eventual construction of Fire Station No. 2.
In February, Arias said the estimated cost of the project was $4.75 million, including building a new training facility behind the station. The project’s budget is $4 million.
On March 1, Arias said the price of steel is increasing every two weeks, potentially increasing the project cost further.
“Steel’s a real wild card,” he said.
City staff has “mentioned a sense of urgency” to get the project going so it does not become more expensive, Arias said.
“We’re really gonna push on them to get the guaranteed max price locked down and lock everybody into place on that cost,” he said.
The public safety building will be expanded with a budget of $5 million, and the Blackhawk Facility will be renovated to make room for offices for the city’s public works, engineering, and parks and recreation offices, Arias said.
In other business
Friendswood City Council on March 1 voted to cancel its May election.
Incumbent Mike Foreman is the sole mayoral candidate, and incumbent Council Members Steve Rockey and Trish Hanks are running unopposed for re-election to their own seats for Position 1 and Position 3, respectively.
With all races unopposed, City Council opted to cancel the election altogether.
