Former County Commissioner Mike Delp questions issues on Union Road paving project

Wednesday, August 21, 2024 at 3:00 AM

By Kathy Bottorff

During the public comment period of the County Commissioner’s meeting on Monday, former county commissioner Mike Delp addressed the commissioner on the Union Road paving issue.

Delp viewed the commissioner’s meeting on August 5^th and had questions on the $394,000+ E&B Paving project that happened on Union Road without bidding or a contract.

Delp asked Stan Klotz, president of the commissioner, how that could have happened without approval.

Klotz’s response was, “I would say you’ll have to talk to Mr. Clevenger at this point in time. We cannot talk about it. Any formal statements will be made through our attorney.”

Delp has looked at the project twice and questioned why Highway Superintendent Jason Peters said the work was completed without authorization so there would be one continuous pour. Delp said there are butt joints and you can see that the asphalt wasn’t all completed at the same time.

While he was viewing the road work, Mr. Delp spoke with a couple of residents who told him that employees from the county highway department were working on a Sunday, removing some dirt for access to a pole building. It should be noted that county highway workers work 4 10-hour days, Monday through Thursday in the summer.

Mr. Delp closed his comments saying, “I don’t think we are being told all the truth Mr. Klotz to be honest. I think you’ve got some sort of finger in this, and I don’t understand why you thought that was appropriated to do that.”

During the Highway Department portion of the commissioner’s meeting, Commissioner Overmyer motioned to table the E&B Paving on Union Road issue to allow time to get more facts.

The County Attorney’s report stated the need to table to allow more time to determine the best course of action. He plans to conduct another executive session at the end of this week for early next.