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GRAFTON, Mass. - The Department of Public Works Advisory Committee presented a five-year $1.7 million road maintenance plan to the Board of Selectmen Tuesday with a price tag that, if not met, would mean more potholes to dodge.
The trick, as pointed out by the selectmen, is to find the money to pay for it.
But a majority of the evening's discussion boiled down to this: it is critical to find a fiscal balance between routine maintenance on existing roads, and having enough left to spend on big ticket repair jobs.
The flashpoint of the conversation often turned to Old Upton Road which, due to poor drainage under the pavement, is breaking apart on virtually the entire road.
Brian Szczurko, an engineer with the DPW, presented a spreadsheet to the selectmen that broke down the minimal road repairs needed between July 2013 and July 2017.
For example, a stretch of Millbury Street, from Oak Street to West Street, would need a $42,885 tear up by 2013, while a stretch of Pleasant Street, between Fitzpatrick Road and Elmwood Street, would need a $105,645 resurfacing by July 2014.
But the DPW Committee said that over a longer time period, the price tag to properly resurface badly needed roads, which would need minimal maintenance for eight to 10 years, could cost as high as $10 million.
Selectmen pushed back immediately.
“People won’t bond $10 million for repairs, I can almost guarantee it,” said Selectman John Carlson.
Assistant Town Administrator Kevin J. Mizikar said there is a $300,000 balance of state money available from the Chapter 90 account.
The selectmen, facing a town meeting next week which will include a revamped version of the Honeywell project to improve the municipal center, were in no mood to offer any guidance to the DPW.
“It’s not complicated," Selectman Brook Padgett said. "We don't have any money."
Selectmen decided to wait till after the outcome of the town meeting on October 15 before offering any budget guidelines.
“Afterwards, we will have a better sense of our long term capital,” Selectman Chairman David Ross said.
Comments (9)
I wonder how much a year the town collects on vehicle excise tax which should be used to repair roads.
...and we were ready to spend $6 mil expanding the library???
I'd much rather see the money go to reliable roads and maybe a few sidewalks, better access management, etc.
It's useless to have central AC at the muni center, a solar farm, and a fancy library if we can't get around and no one can get to our businesses.
and don't forget the $837,875 for the Perrault property (library expansion?), $370,000 for Creeper Hill (soccer fields?), and the $91,000 high school panel "fix". It's no wonder we have no money for basic roads and sidewalks.
What? Another problem for me to solve?
Geez...this one is easy.
Just charge a toll to drive on our roads.
Put a gate at each town entrance way.
We'll even create jobs for the gate keepers.
Easy-peasy. Problem solved.
Back to my nap.
I personally think more taxpayers are interested in much needed road repair vs pumping money into the municipal center...
The roads in this town are by far the worst in the area. Go into Shrewsbury, Westboro, Millbury, etc and you don't find main roads, not to mention secondary roads, in the shape we have here in town. All these other towns seem to find state funding for projects, so is that an option? It also comes down to not waiting years for minor repairs. Seal cracks, fix issues before they become larger. Westboro Road between route 30 and 140 which is a major cut through is in terrible shape. That road will need to be completely re-done. The sidewalks on 140 are in terrible shape due to years of neglect. There is a guardrail that has been broken on route 30 by the train station for well over a year. Who is responsible for that? I could go on and on with the list. We have new schools, new fire and police stations, so it's time to put money into the infrastructure that benefits all the citizens.
The only way to have your voice heard in a meaningful way is to go to Town Meeting and vote. Then you get to say how you want money spent. It only takes a couple of hours and always plenty of seats!
Yup, thats right Brook, "it isn't complicated". We don't have any money in the town to fix bad roads...that is except for yours right? Your road is in good shape isn't it. Maybe you should stop spending money on land aquisition reports and land aquisition that really doesn't help the town and pay more attention to basic infastructure needs. You should really think about how much money we will blow thru on the same pot hole repairs over and over and over? The DPW could be doing other things. Obviously money to fix the basic secondary roads needs to be used...as for Old Upton Rd. it is attrocious and they have no side walks and it is a dangerous obstacle course for vehicles and unsafe for bicyclists and the huge amount of walkers and joggers...etc.
Half the cost of the municipal center repairs ($3+ million) is adding new central air conditioning to the town offices, instead of the current window units.
Thus a fair capital question that needs to be answered is: Does a $3+ million central air condition system take precedent over other important capital projects in town?
I like the idea of replacing out the schools oil burners with gas fired burners and using left over school building committee money to do this. This will save the town money. But central a.c. at the municipal center doesn't make my honeydoo list.