It's a machine that was supposed to help a local community fix its potholes. But News 5 has uncovered that machine has been sitting for months.
"These streets is looking serious and it's affecting people's suspensions, tires,” said Garfield Heights resident Jeffrey Lewis. "Why would they buy something and let it sit?"
He's talking about a $70,000 Dura Patcher machine used for fixing potholes. News 5 was there in 2015 when the city started using it. It utilizes a mixture that includes gravel.
Mayor Vic Collova told us it worked well sometimes but there were problems. "Loose gravel, stones hitting the people's cars, residents' cars,” said Mayor Collova. “They will call over….to the law department...looking to get paid and stuff."
So, it's been sitting at the city’s garage since late last year. After getting knee deep in complaints about the mix kicking up and chipping up cars, the city chipped in its own new idea about what to do next with the machine.
"What we want to do with the machine now, and it will come out later this year, is to chip seal the roads to preserve them," said Mayor Collova.
It's a key strategy endorsed by a national pavement expert News 5 has interviewed in the past. It should put more years into the roads. "They're telling us this will (add) maybe 3-5 years more life on the streets,” the mayor said.
Still, though, there are many rough roads and many patches that frustrate drivers.
"It's kind of crazy so, they should probably get to work on it,” said Phil Lang.
The mayor says in the past few years the city has resurfaced dozens of streets, but Lewis is still waiting for his. "This is a beautiful neighborhood. That's the only thing that's missing is nice streets over here," Lewis told us.
The Garfield Heights garage told On Your Side Investigators that it has the equipment ready to attach to the machine for crack sealing. Mayor Collova said it will start being used soon.
