Caldwell council hears residents on failed 2024 chip seal; staff recommends fog coat next spring

Residents and city staff clashed over the effects of Caldwell’s 2024 chip‑seal work as the council heard public comment on Oct. 20. Resident Dawn Chiew told the council her Sienna Hills neighborhood — developed less than three years ago — has “bald spots” and loose chips that tear up tires and driveways, and urged the council to reallocate 2026 funds to fix the streets.

Public works staff said the 2024 chip‑seal program used insufficient oil and a poor gradation of chips, producing loose fragments on many residential streets. “We could get a cost savings…in the $250,000 range” by combining a fog‑coat application next spring with delayed chip purchases, the staff representative reported, and recommended applying the fog coat when temperatures allow (generally late spring/early summer).

The mayor told the resident the issue would be discussed that evening and that counsel and staff would provide direction. Councilors pressed for clearer timelines and safeguards so work does not “slip between the cracks.” Councilor Allgood said he was “100% for spending the money” to resolve the problem; others asked staff to return with an action item and for the clerk to mark the expenditure for April so the funding is tracked.

Staff said the city would not increase overall budget authority immediately but would delay a planned chip purchase and use existing budgeted funds (including an early payment of assessment dollars) to cover fog‑coat work; the vendor selection and formal budget action will return as a spring action item. Staff also cautioned that fog coating can stop additional chip loss but cannot reliably restore areas already showing large, bald patches.

The council did not take an immediate vote on funding at the Oct. 20 meeting; members directed staff to bring a purchase/action item in spring with vendor and budget details and to flag the item in April for follow‑up.