Inaccessible burn pit draws concern
Staff writer
The road to Peabody’s burn pit was so bad Linda Martinez didn’t try to get through on a recent trip to dump a load of brush. She opted to avoid maneuvering around deep holes filled with water.
“I didn’t dare drive through them because I didn’t know if I was going to get out of them,” she said. “I ended up driving around to the north side and literally dumping out into the grass field where I wouldn’t get stuck, as far out of the way as I could. I also had a lot of people ask me about it.”
The city was aware of the difficult road conditions — workers just needed to find time to fix them, councilman Jay Gfeller said at Monday’s meeting.
“I know we’ve been aware of it,” he said. “I believe one of the issues has just been time management with Lucas, and just being able to get him and his guys down there.”
It would be best to close the burn pit for three or four days so city crews would have time to repair the road, public works superintendent Lucas Larsen said.
“That way we can get the blade in there and level it out, get all the dirt and try to fix the drainage,” he said. “Then we can come back in with some rock and what-not, if we have to. I’d like to have it where we don’t have to worry about running into anybody while we’re in there.”
The plan is to close the pit Dec. 8 to 10 for road repairs, and Dec. 11 if needed.