Residents urge Green City Council to fix deteriorating Waterville and Serenity roads

Residents from the Waterville/Serenity neighborhood pressed the Green City Council on April 14, 2026, saying repeated patching has failed and asking the city to prioritize a long-term repair this summer.

At the public-comment portion of the meeting, Sharon Aton said wide asphalt separations — "2 inch to 2 and a half inches wide" in places — let grass grow through cracks and that heavy construction and logging trucks had compounded damage. "My ask is fix this road this summer," Aton said.

Multiple other speakers described similar damage. Deborah Hosterman told council the county's chip-and-seal and patching approach left the street "too unsteady, too uneven" for her handicapped husband to reach the mailbox. Ron Brandt, who said he has lived in Green nearly 30 years, estimated about 31 homes in the two streets’ span and said the neighborhood now sees multiple school buses where there had been one.

Why it matters: residents argued the failing surface reduces pedestrian safety and homeowner access and does not appear to be resolved by recurring short-term patches. Several speakers said they had repeatedly requested repairs for years without a lasting solution.

Council response and next steps: Councilmember Chris Humphrey, who said he had visited residents in person, acknowledged the complaints and reported an engineering assessment that the road base has been compromised. "There's a reason it's not working because it's too extensive a problem," Humphrey said, noting the patching is not addressing damage that extends "all the way down to the base." He told attendees the city's road program is set for the year and he could not promise immediate replacement but said staff had discussed the specific road with engineering and would determine next steps.

What was requested and what the city said it can do: residents asked for a targeted repaving this summer; the administration said current allocations limit immediate changes to the year's road schedule but committed to follow up with additional data and to provide engineering information before the next meeting.

Context and background: multiple council reports during the meeting referenced ongoing and upcoming street projects across the city, including resurfacing contracts and a larger Arlington Road corridor project that will require utility relocations as part of widening plans. Council members said those citywide priorities and budgets constrain ad-hoc additions to the paving list.

The meeting closed without a specific timeline for patch-to-full-repaving work in the Waterville/Serenity area; councilmembers said staff would supply more street-condition data for future discussions.