City asks Grand Coulee businesses not to use de-icer

Corroding concrete may cause trouble for business owners in Grand Coulee who are being asked not to use de-icer on their sidewalks, while also facing possible fines if they don’t clear ice and snow.

Sidewalks on Main Street and Federal Avenue were replaced earlier this year after problems arose following the original 2015 installation.

Settlement issues causing the concrete to crack were noticed in November of 2016, and a few months later spalling on surfaces was also noted.

Halme Builders, who had installed the sidewalks, initially denied responsibility for the sidewalk issues.

Dan Halme, who owns the company, told The Star in 2019 that his company carried out the project according to the contract. He said that the concrete was sourced from different companies, and that his company used the type of concrete mix specified in the contract.

“The concrete was not designed for de-icer,” Halme said. “It isn’t what they asked for in the contract.”

He said he didn’t know if de-icer was the cause of the spalling, but that was one of the theories.

The city had testing done on the concrete.

“Concrete should not break down like this did when it is less than a year old,” City Clerk Lorna Pearce told The Star in September of this year. “Through the testing, it was determined that in some areas there was no air entrainment in the concrete. Other areas were not that cut and dried.”

It was determined that sections of the sidewalk needed to be replaced, with the city agreeing to pay about $16,000 for the concrete if Halme did the labor, which is what happened earlier this year.

At Grand Coulee’s Dec. 21 council meeting, City Clerk Lorna Pearce told the council that the engineers, Gray and Osborne, had asked the city to attempt to get business owners to not use de-icer, but to use sand instead for traction.

By the city sending out a letter, Pearce said, they will have done their due diligence.

She said the new concrete, which has a two-year warranty, is already having issues and that she is pretty sure the contractors will have to come back in the next year or two. She said asking businesses to not use de-icer should apply to all businesses and not just the ones on Main Street and Federal Avenue.

The council discussed the city’s current sidewalk code, which already requires businesses to remove snow. They also discussed how some businesses that are closed may not do that, which would prompt the city to have their crew remove it themselves, something the business owners could then be charged for.

The Star obtained a draft of the letter, dated Dec. 23, being sent to area businesses and signed by Mayor Paul Townsend.

“The City of Grand Coulee is asking that you not use de-ice or salt on the sidewalk abutting your business,” the letter states. “There has been new concrete placed in front of some of the businesses and de-ice and salt can be corrosive to concrete.”

The letter goes on to say that “the City of Grand Coulee is also asking ALL businesses, regardless of whether you are open or not during the winter months, to please clear the sidewalk in front of your property, in a timely manner, of snow. If you fail to clear the snow on the sidewalk the city will remove the snow and invoice you for the expenses incurred. If you refuse to reimburse the city for the cost a lien may be placed on your property. In addition to fees assessed by the city for the removal of the snow you may also be subject to a fine in an amount up to $500.00 per day.”

A copy of the relevant city code is said to be included with the letter.

Kerry Higgins, who co-owns Coulee Hardware, said that their company, not the city, owns the sidewalks outside the store and has had de-icer applied to it in the winter for the 38 years he has been there, sometimes multiple times a day, without issue, including in the past couple of years when the sidewalks had been replaced.

He said that they sell a lot of de-icer, emphasizing “a lot.”

“We do sell sand and use it sometimes,” he added, “but it doesn’t do a good job because if it snows or freezes it will freeze right over the top of the sand, whereas de-ice will keep the snow and ice melted and provide traction, as well.”

“It’s pretty unrealistic around here to not use de-ice on a sidewalk,” HIggins said. He questioned what the city would have to say regarding who would take responsibility over someone falling on a business’ city-owned sidewalk.