Review of a chip and seal proposal submitted by Kirkham Michael & Associates of Ellsworth topped the agenda during Monday’s remote meeting of the Wilson City Council.

Jon Halbgewachs of Kirkham Michael said Wilson currently seals one-fourth of the city streets every four years. All asphalt streets are to be sealed every four years.

If the city sealed half of its streets at a time instead of one-fourth, theoretically the city could expect to pay about the same mobilization cost for sealing twice as much area, Halbgewachs said.

“Thus, sealing larger sections of town on a less frequent basis would reduce the total amount of mobilization costs for repeated trips to Wilson,” he said.

Halbgewachs estimated the savings of such a plan at 2-5 percent in sealing costs.

The cover rock for sealing needs to be embedded about 70 percent of its depth in the sealing oil.

“Therefore, the bigger the rock that is used, the thicker the oil that needs to be sprayed onto the pavement surface,” he said.

Halbgewachs said the City of Wilson currently uses onehalf inch crushed rock. Using a smaller cover rock would require less sealing oil. He noted if a polymer oil was used, the life of the chip seal laid down would be extended.

Halbgewachs asked the council if they plan to chip seal this year.

Council member Chuck Crawford said that depends on how Kirkham Michael’s study works out.

Crawford suggested chip sealing half the city streets every three years. Mayor Mike Peschka and council member David Criswell agreed.

Peschka said the amount of the check to pay for chip sealing half the streets every three years would be larger than doing just one-fourth of the streets.

He said current and future city councils need to make sure at least a portion of the money saved is earmarked for chip sealing.

Theresa Staudinger, city attorney, said the potential savings could be used to reduce taxes or put toward a future project.

Halbgewachs turned to another area of concern, 31st Street from Ave. E to the Wilson School parking lot. He said removal of the trees there would allow more sun exposure on the road for better draining and also for grading some sort of ditch drainage.

Peschka said the council looks forward to Halbgewachs’ final proposal.

In other business:

• A $40,439 proposal from Ellco Insurance of Wilson for property and workman’s compensation insurance was approved.

• Jan Shaw and Trey Fink were approved to be hired as summer help for $10 per hour. However, a subsequent motion was approved to give Shaw and Fink each a $1 per hour raise to $11 per hour.

• Steve Ford was approved to be hired to mow and trim the Wilson City Cemetery at $10 per hour.

• Approval was given to pay the $4,300 annual stipend to the Wilson Economic Development Corporation.

• City superintendent Mary Prester will get more information, including warranty information on several commercial mower bids before further consideration on purchasing a mower is made by the council.

• A $499.50 bid from Marine Specialty of Wilson for two Carlisle Guard MX NHS tires for the city backhoe was approved.

• Josh Tipton, Wilson Police chief and chairman of the city board of health, was instructed to talk to Jerry Florian, owner of the properties at 809-815 24th Street regarding progress made on the board of health violations there.

• By consensus, the council directed Tipton to have the city board of health select an individual board member to focus on violations regarding vehicles and lawns. If that cannot be accomplished, then the city will advertise for a compliance officer.

• Peschka said Shawn Shipley of Wilson is working on acquiring an automated external defibrillator (AED) for the City of Wilson at no cost.

• A special remote meeting of the council is scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 14, to discuss the proposed abandoned property ordinance.

• The city will accept a donation of disc golf equipment at no charge from the Wilson Economic Development Corporation.

• No action was taken after a 10-minute executive session for the preliminary discussion of the acquisition of real property, specifically, to discuss a potential dilapidated property proposal.

• No action was taken after a series of four executive sessions lasting a total of 40 minutes to discuss non-elected personnel, specifically, personnel matters.

The next regular meeting of the Wilson City Council will be remotely at 7 p.m. Monday, April 20, at city hall.