Pothole Killer Completes 1st Week

Of Experiment On Village Streets

COOPERSTOWN – Pothole Killers of Fairless Hills, Pa., today completed its first week of killing Cooperstown’s potholes.

The Pothole Killer you may have seen working its way up and down Chestnut Street in recent days will shift to the other two main approaches to the village next week – Lake Street and Glen Avenue.

The initiative – contracting out pothole repair – was proposed by Village Trustee Jim Dean, and earlier this month the trustees saw demonstrations by Pothole Killers and Midwest-based Durapatcher.

Pothole Killers won out for two reasons, Mayor Jeff Katz said:  It offered an eight-hour pilot program, and it provided the truck and crew.  Also, other municipalities gave rave reviews.

The cost of the two-week experiment is $18,000.

As sidewalk superintendents along Chestnut Street observed, a hose on the front of the truck first blows stray stones and debris out of the pothole.  Then, it sprays a sealant.  Then, it adds the new gravel.

Katz said the system appears to be much quicker than the tradition two-man crew from the village’s Department of Public Works that adds either “cold patch” or “hot patch” to a pothole and pounds it in place.

“This is probably a better process for us,” said the mayor.  “Aa lot more potholes can be filled through this process than through our normal process.”