Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Satellite Park Nears Completion

Plans for the industrial access road to a proposed satellite industrial park near Interstate 30 are almost done.

This good news was presented to the Clark County Industrial Council by project engineer Charles Summerford at the regular monthly CCIC meeting Thursday, July 24.

Summerford said the geo-technical report has not been sent back yet, which means the content of the soil is not known at this time. However, he told the members this report should be delivered this week.

Once this is done and the final specifications are made, the project can be let for bid.

According to Summerford, the CCIC was given 18 months to complete the project when it received a grant.

He said the mini-park will be more than 40 acres, divided into 11 lots from 2.14 acres to 8.5 acres in size. There will be water, sewer and paved streets, with curb and guttering. The road into the satellite park will be about two miles long and will have to cross several creeks.

Summerford said hopefully the contracts will be let by Labor Day with the work orders issued by then as well.

Denise Wolf, with Siplast, though, was the featured speaker. She told the CCIC what Siplast does and how it is done.

Wolf showed a video on the process the roofing products company uses in its modified asphalt system.

The company, she said, has its roots in Europe, but has operations worldwide.

Arkadelphia, she said, is the only manufacturing plant for this product for Siplast in North America. This site was chosen originally because it is centrally located in the U.S. and is close to major transportation lanes.

The asphalt-based roofing material can take temperature extremes from the cold of Alaska to the heat of the desert. Its rubberized and fiberglass reinforced asphalt will expand and contract with the weather.

The product is also approved by Underwriter's Lab and meets class A fire standards.

Interestingly enough, the company won't just sell its product outright. Before the materials are sold, the purchaser must first submit an application giving detailed information about how the product will be used. This includes the pitch of the roof and scope of the project planned.

Part of the reason for this is because Siplast gives a 10 year, 100 percent guarantee on its products for approved jobs. The 10 year time limit means very little as roofs done with these materials last as long as 30 years if properly installed. The 10 year no-leak guarantee is for flat roofs.

The Arkadelphia plant produces more than a million rolls of roofing annually.

Several buildings in downtown Arkadelphia have Siplast roofing, though factory seconds and not the top grade materials. The top grade roofing costs about $85 per square.

The company imports a French-made residential roofing product with a scalloped style, but it runs in the neighborhood of $500 per square.

Currently, Siplast is working two 10-hour shifts four days a week. However, there are plans to expand and add a second manufacturing line.

However, this will not mean many jobs as the production of Siplast's roofing is not labor intensive. Once the expansion is done, only six or eight more people will be hired.