Cresco Labs to repair damages to 1800th street

 

[November 08, 2019] 

At the Logan County Board Planning and Zoning Committee meeting Wednesday, November 6, one focus of discussion was damage that has occurred on 1800th Street in East Lincoln Township as a result of some of the heavy machinery used for construction at Cresco Labs.

Cresco Labs is adding 60,000 square feet of greenhouse space and an additional 100,000 square feet of indoor growing space. They plan to hire up to 100 local employees.

East Lincoln Township Road Commissioner Paul Turner discussed a couple problems that have occurred since the Cresco expansion began.

The first instance back in October was a concrete cleanout they put right in the center of the ditch and Turner said he talked to someone from the construction company Norcon who said they would get the concrete cleaned up, but after a week a half, it had not been taken care of. Norcon finally got it done and sent Turner pictures and email as proof, which Turner said he appreciated.

Since then, several heavy machines, concrete trucks, low boys and semis coming in off old Route 66 onto 1800th Street into the facility. The heavy traffic has caused some damage on 1800th Street.

Turner said Norcon stayed in touch with him and has taken responsibility for the damages. Norcon plans to take care of the problem at their costs and has a construction company in mind to repair the damaged road.

However, Turner said this discussion started October 29 and he hoped they would take care of it in a timelier manner because more people use the road than just Cresco Labs. He has had several farmers who use the road call and complain.

In addition, construction workers parking on the side of the road have caused some bottlenecks. When combines and tractors also need to use the road, it has been difficult. The road has been dirty and not been swept as often as Turner hoped.

Turner said he was told the heavy traffic would stop by November 1 and there would be just cars and pick-up trucks on the road. However, this traffic has not stopped.

Though there is a plan in place, Turner does not feel things have been done to repair damage in a timely manner.

Donna Bracey, construction manager for the new build at Cresco labs, said Cresco acknowledges that they have caused damage and plans to start correcting some of the damage next week. The concrete pour for the processing building was finished today and Bracey said one of the reasons they wanted to wait to repair it is because they knew they would continue to have trucks go down 1800th Street in order to deliver concrete.

Weather permitting, repairs should take one day. They will take out one section of the road completely and reshape it with CA6 stone, which is used as a base stone for roads. Then they will recompact it.

The repair will be done with two-inch layers of hot mix asphalt, a combination of approximately 95 percent stone, sand, or gravel bound together by asphalt cement, a crude oil product.

Once the asphalt is in place, the shoulders will be touched up with stone. In the spring, Cresco and the county will look at the road condition to decide if more asphalt is needed or if they can just apply oil and chip. All costs will be billed to Cresco.

Bracey said they are “moving at the speed of light” with this work and she appreciates their patience. She appreciated Turner bringing the problem to the committee so they could address it. Cresco wants to be good neighbors because the city of Lincoln has been a good partner and Cresco is excited about the expansion.

Turner said though Bracey mentioned “the speed of light,” it is going on seven weeks since some of the problems began. Since it is better to do asphalt work at temperatures above 35 or 36 for the asphalt to set up, Turner said he is concerned about high temperatures next week predicted to be around 35.

Bracey said they plan to do the repairs at the end of next week after the cold snap.

Turner asked what would happen if the cold snap does not end and Bracey said they would put a plan in place.

Committee member Dave Blankenship asked if the base would carry the weight limits and whether the facilities being added would have adequate parking.

Turner said the worst part is a five by five section, so the base should be fine.

Bracey said they are renting space from a nearby farmer, so construction workers do not have to park along 1800th Street. For employees, parking is being expanded further south.

Committee member Cameron Halpin asked if they had a plan B if the temperatures do not rise.

Bracey said they don’t yet, but they are working to come up with some alternate plans.

Turner said he would share all the emails between East Lincoln and Cresco with the board to show the discussions between them.

[Angela Reiners]