Wauconda Township neighborhood upset about road project

Homeowners near Port Barrington are complaining that shoddy roadwork quickly deteriorated into sunken and cracked pavement on their dead-end street, and are pressuring Wauconda Township officials to have the work redone.

“They paved it on a Thursday. The problems started the next day,” Fred Bailey, a Geraldine Lane homeowner since 1977, told township trustees at a meeting Wednesday night.

Bailey recalled that a garbage truck sank inches into the surface in May 2010, the day after the resurfacing project was completed.

A neighbor, Drew Cheshier, described puddles of standing water and crumbling asphalt near his house, saying, “To see the condition of that street within one year, it’s ridiculous.”

The township’s engineer, Mark Rooney, said tests this month found overly thin sections of asphalt over a gravel base “contaminated” with clay, which can prevent proper compression.

Highway Commissioner Joe Munson said a meeting is scheduled for next week with Schroeder Asphalt Services, the Huntley-based contractor that was paid $43,000 to complete the work.

“We’re going to work out a solution here,” Munson said. “It’s not right. We know it’s not right.”

More than half a dozen homeowners from the neighborhood, an unincorporated area, attended the township meeting. Bailey said they want a “brand-new road.”

Reached by phone Thursday, Brent Schroeder, owner of Schroeder Asphalt Services, blamed Rooney for poor design work, saying the required two inches of asphalt over a stone base was adequate for a bicycle path but not a residential road.

“It was built per design,” he said, adding Rooney supervised the entire project.

“Now they want me to give this work for free. I’m not going to do that,” Schroeder said. “We’ve protected him as long as we can. If this goes much further — and I think it will — I’m going to end up suing Mark Rooney for poor design work.”

Rooney called the remark “ridiculous” and disagreed that he supervised the entire project, saying Schroeder neglected to notify him when the project began. Paving was already under way, he said, when he first visited the work site.

The contract terms included a two-year guarantee and purchase of a warranty bond. Schroeder said he patched problem spots on the road last year without charge and remains willing to do “remedial patching here and there.”

Township Trustee Gary Thompson said Schroeder Asphalt Services should have to reimburse the township for any incurred expenses.

“I don’t think we should be paying to inspect their faulty work,” he said.