Paving Update Given During Public Service Committee Meeting
The first half of the meeting on July 29, 2024 concerned citizen appeals of water/sewer bills. The Public Service Committee adjudicates the appeals and decides on the amounts of credit awarded. DPW Director Dane Arnold spoke about paving and other updates in the 2nd half of the meeting. Listen to the entire meeting on any device, CLICK PLAY.
Director Arnold spoke of paving near the industrial park off of Pearl Street which is expected next week. Also anticipated is Timpany Boulevard and a portion of Main Street from CVS down to the rotary. Currently Unitil is doing some work on gas lines ahead of the paving. Arnold stated, “Once they’re done, we’re going to come up in the island in front of Stasukelis that has two crosswalks, one on each side of the road. We’re going to extend the island up towards the police station slightly, maybe 10-15 feet.” Arnold explained the effort is so a pedestrian can be seen in the crosswalk. Arnold outlined other streets and also stated, “We have $30 million of road that we need to pave and we can only afford $1.5 million.”
In other matters, a $40,000 contract was finalized with an outside tree contractor to do tree trimming and removal in the City. Director Arnold anticipates hiring to be easier once the union contract is finalized. DPW is currently operating on 17 staff members with 8 vacancies. Design of the Route 140 Pedestrian Bridge is going to the next stage. Arnold also explained that “we have a draft storm water and erosion control regulation, which piggybacks on our storm water ordinance.” Arnold says there have been mixed reviews about the Uptown Rotary, explaining that once the top coat of paving is on, it will be easier to drive on the mountable burr if necessary.