The Charleston City Council will vote on a resolution Tuesday to repair cracks before they expand into further damaged repairs.

The council said they are setting aside $75,000 to seal the pavement cracks on Madison and Polk avenues and Division Street.

John Inyart, mayor of Charleston, said a final amount is not set yet, but the construction work may be set to begin this fall.

“It extends the life of the road,” Inyart said. “If the crack is open and it gets water in it, it can freeze and cause the crack to expand to create potholes.”

The city will seal the cracks with tar once the process begins, Inyart said.

Inyart said the council is signing a contract with Spear Financial Inc. to refinance the bonds for the city repairs completed in 2003-2004.

Repairs to the water treatment plant were completed in 2003 and bonds were purchased for the repairs to the swimming pool in 2004, Inyart said.

“Since that time, interest rates have gone down,” Inyart said. “Refinancing these bonds should save taxpayers some money.”

Inyart said the council plans to refinance the bonds this fall.

The council will approve a TIF agreement that it has to complete repairs on the Uptowner.

“We did the initial part of the work,” Inyart said. “The funds we’re awarding with the amendment will pay for the extra work has to be done.”

Inyart said the emergency repairs included sidewalks that had moved in from the street.

The total cost for the repairs was $19,000, Inyart said.

“We had to take in doors and windows that led into the building,” Inyart said. “We had to fill in the area so it wouldn’t settle.”

The council will vote on an agreement for engineering work that will be completed on stone bridges around Charleston, Inyart said.

“This will tell an engineer what has to be done and they’ll put in a form for when they get prices for it,” Inyart said.

Inyart said they’re obligating around $50,000 for the repairs to the bridges; $6500 of which will be used for the engineering agreement.

Inyart said the bridges need to be tuckpointed to be repaired.

“They need to seal them up and keep them from coming apart,” Inyart said.

There is no set date for the bridgework to begin, Inyart said.

Jennifer Brown can be reached at 581-7942 or jebrown2@eiu.edu