For the week of July 17 - 23, 2002

Chip seal upsets Ketchum store owners

---

By GREG STAHL
Express Staff Writer

Ketchum storeowners came unglued this month when customers who had trudged across the city’s freshly chip-sealed streets stained their floors and carpets.

"Obviously this is something different this year," said Barry Peterson, owner of Barry Peterson Jewlers on Sun Valley Road, as he pointed to oil and tar stains stippling his store floor. "It’s been bullet proof for years. I don’t know if I’ll be able to save it."

Barry Peterson, owner of Barry Peterson Jewelers in Ketchum, said he’s not sure if he can save his carpets after customers tracked in oil and tar from the city’s freshly chip-sealed streets. Express photo by Willy Cook

Peterson wasn’t alone, and upset storeowners got the attention of Ketchum’s politicians.

"It was a mess," said Councilman Randy Hall, adding that he was lambasted by several local entrepreneurs. "It was hot. It was miserable."

Ketchum Mayor Ed Simon has invited affected storeowners to apply for claims on the city’s insurance policy. City Clerk Sandy Cady said she had received seven claims by Tuesday afternoon.

According to Ketchum Street Department Supervisor Brian Christiansen, the city tried to chip seal earlier this year than the usual late-July undertaking. An unlucky heat wave caused the oil to bleed through the chip-seal coating. Even oils applied in previous summers bled through as temperatures topped 100.

"Mother Nature didn’t help us out, and we had a problem with the painters," Hall said. "It was quite a mess. I got quite a few complaints."

Because of a six-year rotating cycle the city uses to chip seal the entire city, the downtown core around Giacobbi Square will not be subject to the stains and pains again in the near future.

"In the meantime, maybe technology will be our friend, and we will be able to find products that will allow us to do it differently," Hall said.

 

The Idaho Mountain Express is distributed free to residents and guests throughout the Sun Valley, Idaho resort area community. Subscribers to the Idaho Mountain Express will read these stories and others in this week's issue.