J Street sinkhole costly for Auburn

AUBURN - The Auburn City Council met on Monday June 9 in a regular meeting. Multiple proposals were brought before the council, however none received as much attention as the CRA Core Area City Projects proposal.

The CRA Core Area Projects proposal included Courthouse Avenue restoration, public pool and other public recreation facilities improvements. It also includes sewer and water main system infrastructure improvements and downtown landscaping and streetscaping.

Included in the plan is the J Street sinkhole discovered underneath El Portal.

 

In 2018, a trash truck out of Rock Port, Mo. Dropped through collapsed pavement behind the restaurant. The hole was originally thought to be small but when the owner of the building, Luis Lopez, investigated, it turned out to be about 20-30 feet deep.

Auburn officials say, since the sinkhole was discovered in 2018, it has swallowed over 80 tons of gravel and has still not been filled. Last year the city council approved $46,000 for JEO Construction to engineer a repair project for a damaged culvert. On Monday the council learned the final cost of repairing the culvert. Katy Billings of the CRA told the council the repairs are expected to cost $540,000.

Councilman Tom Clark questioned the city’s responsibility for repairs.

Clark: “Katy, agree on a lot of this, but I’m not agreeable on that storm drain underneath El Portal. That’s self-inflicted. That should have never been passed.”

Mayor Chris Erickson responded to Clark on the matter.

 

 

Erickson: “Yeah, but that's the bad part. It was passed 50-60 years ago, when our city building inspector owned the building.

Clark: “Yeah, but I believe we should not have to fix this from our right of way out.”

Erickson: “Yeah, but it’s our storm water.”

Auburn passed the CRA Core Area Projects and will begin the projects later this year.