Board pauses Cobb rehabilitation work; orders staff to pursue asphalt change order after residents raise concerns

Interim Public Works Director Lars Ewing told the Lake County Board of Supervisors on July 29 that construction of the Cobb Area 2024 pavement rehabilitation project had been paused after residents and staff raised concerns about specified double chip seal on several steep, high‑use roads.

"The repair methods that are proposed...are either 2 and a half inches or 3 inches of asphalt, or grinding, reshaping, compacting and placing a double chip seal," Ewing said as he explained the two approaches in the project’s plans. He said the contractor, Argonaut Constructors, was building to the approved plans and that the concerns were about the design choice rather than construction quality.

Ewing told supervisors the project originally had an engineer’s estimate near $8.9 million; after bid adjustments and scope refinement staff prepared a recommendation to replace some chip‑seal sections with hot‑mix asphalt. Ewing said early cost estimates produced by staff and the contractor put the incremental cost of adding asphalt to the sections already pulverized and surface‑prepared at roughly $1.0 million, with anticipated contract savings elsewhere of about $700,000 — a net increase in the range of several hundred thousand dollars. He advised the board that current county appropriations and a discretionary offer from Supervisor Pyska could cover the net increase if the board chose to move forward.

Why residents objected: dozens of residents from Cobb told the board they opposed leaving steep neighborhood roads with double chip seal where snowplows, garbage trucks and heavy construction vehicles run frequently. Speakers described early surface deterioration after the contractor’s first chip layer was placed and said the county’s climate (annual snow and winter storms), steep grades and post‑fire reconstruction traffic made a longer‑lived asphalt surface more cost effective over the life cycle of the road.

Technical context: consultants from Nichols Consulting Engineers (NCE) — who designed the project — explained that double chip seal (bituminous surface treatment) is a common, flexible surface used on lower‑speed rural roads and that, within the project budget constraints, NCE selected a mix of asphalt overlays and double chip for different road segments. NCE engineers said double chip in low‑traffic contexts often lasts ten to 15 years; board members and public commenters argued that Cobb’s steep grades and climate made that lifetime optimistic locally.

Board direction: the board directed staff to proceed with preparing a change order for Argonaut Constructors to add asphalt to the affected pulverized sections and to return to the board with a formal change order and funding plan. Supervisor Pyska indicated willingness to allocate discretionary funds to reduce the county’s share; Director Ewing said the county’s road fund appropriations and other budget lines could cover the shortfall if needed, but that spending the money on asphalt would reduce the county’s ability to use those funds elsewhere.

Public safety notes: Cal Fire and local fire officials told the board that pavement sections must support heavy emergency equipment and that a flexible yet durable surface that spreads heavy wheel loads is essential for safe operations on steep access roads.

Ending: staff will return to the board with a draft change order, estimated costs and an identification of funding sources. If the board approves the change order, Argonaut indicated availability to perform paving work in August–September while the contractor’s schedule permits.