Milford City Council approved a request from Public Works Director Willis Shafer to have the city’s contracted paving company, Eastern States Construction, to correct problems on Blackwater Court in Hearthstone Manor. According to Shafer, Key Properties, the developer, hired CJ Paving to install the asphalt surface initially.
“During the paving operation, no density tests for quality control were conducted,” Shafer said. “Once the paving operations were complete, public works staff observed unacceptable riding surfaces. The pavement did not harden and remained soft and pliable.”
This resulted in the city hiring an independent contractor, Verdantas, to obtain field density and compaction values on Blackwater Court. DelDOT requires a minimum compaction value of 92 percent and values found by the contractor on Blackwater Court ranged from 74 to 91 percent. CJ Paving hired Hill-Carnes to test sections of the road and received similar results.
“Since July 2023, Key Properties have received numerous verbal and written requests to have Blackwater Court repaved,” Shafer said. “In 2024, the city approved a $6.1 million contract with Eastern States Construction to replace aging utilities and pave roadways citywide. We would like to have a change order that would allow our current road rehabilitation contract updated to include $81,786.50 to pave Blackwater court.”
Shafer explained that County Bank is holding a letter of credit from Key Properties who will release the funds to the city once the work is completed. Mayor Todd Culotta asked if there had been an inspector in Hearthstone Manor when the work was done.
“We’re not required to have inspectors out there, we try to,” Shafer said. “Since I’ve been director, I am having KCI oversee a lot of projects because we need overtime, but at the time of paving, it is my understanding, there was no full-time city inspector.”
Councilman Madula Kalesis asked whether an inspector should have conducted those tests.
“We’re not equipped to do that,” Shafer said. “That is a machine we’re not certified to run, so technically, the paving contractor is to conduct compaction tests for quality control. That’s in our charter, that’s required. So, tests were conducted after the fact. There was a lot of visual inspection. The pavement was soft and pliable. It is my understanding they did not do their initial compaction test.”
City Manager Mark Whitfield explained that council had already taken action on the project.
“We said this needed to be done by June 1 and if not, we were to proceed,” Whitfield said. “All this does is to approve a change order to the contract. Because it is over $50,000, we need to have council approval to get this work done. Council has already authorized the work.”
Council approved the request unanimously.
Street issues in Hearthstone Manor have been ongoing for many years, however. At the June 9 meeting, a letter from Representative Bryan Shupe was included in the council packet requesting the city delay approval of the next phase of Hearthstone Manor until Key Properties addresses the road conditions.
“As you are aware, the residents of the Hearthstone community have endured unacceptable road conditions for several years,” the letter read. “These conditions persist due to the developer’s continued refusal to take the necessary steps to rehabilitate infrastructure within the existing phases of the development.”
The letter continued.
“It is important to acknowledge that the root of this issue lies in a lack of sufficient accountability measures at the outset of the development process,” Shupe wrote. “I want to be clear that this is not the fault of the current city leadership or council members. However, the legal agreements – or the lack thereof – must be honored, and private developers cannot be compelled to perform tasks that were not stipulated in their original contracts.”
Shupe requested that Key Properties be required to pave existing roads and bring current infrastructure up to code before the next phase of development moves forward. Shupe requested this as a “matter of consumer protection and community standards.
“Furthermore, I recommend that these discussions begin now, prior to the start of the approval process, so that both the city and the developers can work collaboratively on a plan,” Shupe wrote. “Early engagement can help prevent another prolonged period of substandard infrastructure for the residents who have already waited too long for safe and adequate road conditions.”
The letter was not read into the record at the council meeting but referenced by Whitfield during the meeting.
