by Geoff Fox
Hancock’s municipal parking lot on Canal Street was closed last Friday and will remain closed through this Friday as C.W. Hetzler General Contracting paves the lot.
The town received the funds through Project Open Space giving the town $100,000 for the project. The grant money was awarded in 2021. 
It was made a priority to get the lot paved during the September meeting so it would be completed before Miracle on Main.
During the October meeting, Town Manager Mike Faith said he had four quotes, however one of the companies gave an estimate but he couldn’t get it in writing, so only three were presented to officials.
Faith said he wasn’t a paving guy and didn’t want to tell the contractors what to do as far as paving the lot.
He said he’d show them the site and tell them what the town has financially to repave the lot, and ask “how would you make this better.”
Hetzler told him they’d mill the lot and take the old, bad asphalt out, patch it, and then overlay the lot.
Mayor Roland Lanehart, Jr. said the contractor also told them if the cracked out asphalt wasn’t taken out and just overlaid it, those cracks would come back.
Councilman Josh McCusker said a crack would come back a quarter inch a year.
Of those that gave a quote, Hetzler was the only one who came and took a measurement of the lot, which was 30,000 square feet.
“They’re the only ones that had the capability of running a milling machine,” Faith said.
Another company, Raferty Paving, came and said they’d chip out the bad asphalt with a bobcat, which came up as less. Another, Antietam Paving, took a measurement and asked the town to spray the weeds and then they’d go over the pavement.
Faith said he didn’t tell them exactly what he wanted done because they’re the professionals.
Before the work started last Friday, there was a wooden guardrail Faith said was falling down and in the middle, there was another wooden guardrail.
The decision was made to not replace the middle guardrail and just pave the area and add painted lines for spaces.
This would make the lot easier to plow in the winter, as there wouldn’t be any obstructions in the lot.
The outside guardrail around the perimeter of the lot will be replaced, Lanehart said.
Faith said the old flowerbeds would also be replaced alongside some nice landscaping to make it look “really nice.”
Lumber has already been priced the lumber for the guardrail so town crew and inmate crew can make the new guardrail, Faith said.
McCusker said whatever money was left from the paving, that money could use toward the purchase of the lumber for the guardrail.
A tree that was growing in the lot is also to be removed. Removing the tree will prevent the roots from pushing the asphalt up.
There was to be a pavilion installed, however with the grant being so old and prices changed, town officials decided the paving should be the priority. Faith said the town had to file for a modification because of that.
Sinclair Hamilton raised a concern from the public audience about the pavilion, noting a person who would set up a tent for injured and disabled veterans to ride special bicycles.
He said he understood things change but just wanted to let officials know how useful the pavilion would be and thought maybe in the future officials could add something.
Lanehart said they’d rather not use any more of the parking lot than they have to, pointing to the reasoning for taking out the tree and island in the center of the lot.
This would allow the center area to be shortened to allow people going to the bed and breakfast easier access and turns easier.
Faith added the town crew and inmate crew would paint the lines in the lot when the paving is complete so to save some money there as well.
With it being a parking lot, the use and wear won’t be as bad as a road and the only real maintenance would be repainting the lines in five years.
Officials unanimously, with McCusker abstaining, voted to award the contract to pave the lot.
