By Jonathan Copsey / STAFF

No one wants a sinkhole in Alpharetta. But we’re going to have to suffer further construction to avoid it.

At last week’s Alpharetta City Council meeting, Transportation Director Pete Sewczewicz told the council that, to avoid a situation similar to the one in Atlanta – where a car was submerged in a sinkhole in the middle of the road – the opening of the intersection of Kimball Bridge Road and North Point Parkway would have to be delayed because of the discovery of “unsuitable soils.”

While installing a storm drain network and widening the intersection, the contractor discovered over 1,000 cubic yards of unsuitable soil. Leaving the soils in place would result in instability for anything placed on top, including blacktop and sidewalks, which would only need to be replaced again when it eventually breaks. The solution, said Sewczewicz, is to dig out the soil and replace it with stone.

This comes in addition to several other unforeseen problems with the intersection, such as the unwelcome discovery of previously unknown telecom cables and water lines. The added cost to the city for dealing with these problems is just over $122,000, bringing the total cost of the intersection improvements to just over $1 million.   

A Case of the Mondays?

Councilman D.C. Aiken brought up the subject of moving the city’s weekly meetings from Monday nights to Tuesday nights. His reasoning, which seemed to find support among most of the Council, was that Mondays are just plain awkward days.

“It’s not a huge issue,” said Aiken. “But there have been songs written about how bad Mondays are.”

Federal holidays tend to fall on Mondays, he added, and for those days the meeting is moved to Tuesdays without a problem. For those council members who work or have families, Mondays can be a burden, especially if the meeting runs long into the night.

“I just think Tuesdays are a better day,” he concluded.

The other council members added their own gripes on Mondays, with Councilwoman Cheryl Oakes saying that the council members do not typically get their information packets for the upcoming meeting until Friday, which gives them the weekend to look over it, but should they have any questions, they can only be answered on Monday, before the meeting. 

Oakes also suggested that, if meetings were moved to Tuesdays, she and other council members might be able to attend the council meetings of neighboring cities to view discussions of key issues.

And, of course, there’s always Monday Night Football.

Mayor Arthur Letchas, while listening patiently to the reasons given, finally threw in his opinion, saying it was too early to be bringing this up.

“I just think we’re searching [for reasons to move to Tuesday],” he said. “I don’t see a problem with Monday nights. We’ve been doing this for a long time.”

“Monday nights are the night we sign up for [as council members],” he added. “If you can’t do it on Monday nights, don’t do it.”

He pointed out that, with the election coming up, it was premature to be discussing changing the meetings, since two council members will be new in 2010. If it should be discussed at all, the council should wait until early next year.