Charlie Rollman is protective of city streets, knowing that damage done by builders tapping into sewer and water lines and companies laying fiber optics, phone lines, cable and the like ultimately can cost taxpayers a lot of money.

So he was not happy when a Bridgepoint Communications crew, working on behalf of Comcast, dug a hole in the street near his Skyway home and left a jumbled mess of asphalt behind.

Rollman remained upset when the crew came back and made a half-hearted patch in the street.

Here are Rollman’s photos of the “patch” by the crews:

Rollman was not impressed with the way crews just slapped down some asphalt mix and smashed it against the gutter. He predicted the chunks of broken asphalt would pop out the first time a snowplow came down the street.

(Please resist the urge to jump in with comments about snowplows only being seen in Skyway and the Broadmoor and other affluent neighborhoods!)

The crews didn’t even bother to sweep out the sand and dirt before applying the patch, Rollman said, and he provded it with this closeup of the rubble mixed with the new material. He said it would never bond and hold for any period of time.

He was also unhappy that the crews did nothing to smooth the street where their boring machine actually lifted the roadbed an inch or so, creating a nasty little bump for drivers. Here’s his photo of that damage.

So Rollman called the city and was told rogue crews often damage city streets. He also called Comcast and received promises but no action.

So he called Side Streets. He wondered why the city would let a private company damage its streets and do such a sloppy job repairing them.

Turned out the city doesn’t allow it. In fact, turned out Bridgepoint had not gotten a permit for the work it did in September that damaged Bonne Vista Drive in Skyway, said Steve Bodette, who oversees street inspections in the city engineering department.

Here’s a map of the area on the city’s southwest side:

 A few phone calls produced immediate action.

Comcast got busy and scheduled an asphalt crew to arrive Tuesday, Nov. 18.

And Bridgepoint went down to City Engineering to get a permit, after the fact, for the work it did in September.

Bodette gave Bridgepoint a warning for having done the work without a permit. And he said Bridgepoint’s repair would be inspected and satisfy city codes.

He also invited the public to call his office to request inspection of damage to city streets. The number is 385-5977.

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