Potholes appear early in the season but city is making repairs

Watch out drivers. Although winter is not even a month old, there are many potholes popping up in the city. The city is aware of the problem and is assigning workers to fill them.

By Charles Sercombe
Winter is not even a month old and potholes have already appeared in Hamtramck.
Or wait, are those potholes left over from last year?
Who knows for sure, but the city is on it.
Mark Ragsdale, the Director of Public Works, said he assigns his only two employees to patch potholes once a week – weather-permitting.
“As soon as it warms back up, we can go back to patching,” Ragsdale said earlier this week before department heads were told by new the City Manager to not talk to the media.
If it sounds strange to hear that the city is now back to doing its own pothole repairs that’s because it’s a new policy, Ragsdale said.
He said it came down to dollars and cents.
The work had previously been contracted out to Platinum Landscaping, Inc., but Ragsdale said it turns out to be less expensive to do in-house.
He said that Platinum was charging the city $375 to fill a pothole the size of 3 by 5 feet and a few inches deep.
Doing some research, Ragsdale said he is able to purchase one ton of asphalt from Wayne County for $100.
“I assigned two employees to work a Saturday on overtime for five hours and they filled 30 potholes,” Ragsdale said. “It was still cheaper than what the city was being charged for fixing one pothole.”
Ragsdale said he can only afford to assign his two workers to fill potholes once a week because of the many other tasks they have to complete.
In the meantime drivers, keep your eye on the road.