After some concern about the roadway conditions, the Wayne Township trustees decided to tar and chip three roads in an effort to extend their lifespans.

The township paid Ray Hensley Paving $48,662 to tar and chip three miles of road including Long Glady Road from the Brown County line to Taylor Road, Pringle Road from Ohio 727 to Newtonsville Road and Bishop Road from Ohio 133 to Leuders Road.

"The tar and chip will seal the asphalt and keep the water out so the asphalt won't pop," said Wayne Township Maintenance Supervisor Jason Browning at the trustees' meeting Oct. 8. "Now the cracks are sealed so, when we go to pave those roads, they will last longer."

When a road is tarred and chipped, two layers of hot tar and limestone clips are spread over the existing surface. This should help the roads last longer and undergo less weather-related damage, Browning said.

Township Trustee Dennis Elchlinger said tarring and chipping the roads is something he wanted to try to see if it helped keep the roads in better condition for future paving, though no paving projects currently are planned.

"It was an experiment and something I wanted to try this year," Elchlinger said.

Although the residents did not argue that the tar and chip was worth a try, some were upset that the project was launched on highly traveled roads instead of ones with less traffic and fewer residents.

"(The trustees) should have experimented on a road like Lehr (Road) with less traffic ... So what if there's a seam on a dead-end road" Tony Dolan, Wayne Township resident, said at the meeting. "If these roads that were tarred and chipped hold-up, you might be on to something, but it seems like we're doing it backwards."

When roads are tarred and chipped, the limestone chips sometimes create a gravel along the surface of the road. Although the maintenance department is sweeping the roadways, residents were upset that there is still gravel on the road causing tires to spin and rocks to get kicked-up.

"I don't disagree that the roads are sealed for whenever we pave them, but it set the roads back 20 years," Dolan said.