Otta Seal or Otta Not? Ask us next year …

Published 1:30 am Thursday, September 4, 2025

Well, the gravel is going down in the Chip/Otta Seal project in town. Last week I had contacted a public works director in a town in Grays Harbor County, and asked him how things were going a year after his community had this project done by the same company.

He had not answered yet, last week, before the paper went to press, but he did answer me on Wednesday and this is what he said, “We have had mixed reviews about the project. There was a lot of backlash during the project. There was a lot of dust and gravel left behind when the project was completed. It has got better and overall made our roads better. They just aren’t as pretty as a traditional chip seal. The higher trafficked roads have smoothed out as the oils have worked closer to the surface. After another year or so, we will look at doing a fog seal over the Otta Seal that would clean up the appearance of the roads.”

So a year from now …? I also found an article in a Grays Harbor paper about folks attending city council meetings with complaints over their Otta Seal project…One city council member in that Grays Harbor town said, about the increased attendance, “It was great” … “It got people to come to city council meetings!”

Also this week …seeking community help in identifying people in this photo …It was recently found in a used book purchased by a Forks resident. She is hoping someone will recognize someone?

It is a double paper week, the paper is printing on Friday afternoon instead of Monday … so that I get a Labor Day off!

Christi Baron, Editor