Duxbury residents who have a clogged, damaged, or filled private culvert and have asked for town help have been turned away due to the town’s culvert policy.
Over the last two months, the Duxbury Select Board has heard from several residents who expressed concerns over their personal driveway culverts being affected by others’ culverts. Private road and personal driveway culverts are not maintained under the town’s current culvert policy and needed to be maintained privately.
At s July 22, select board meeting, board members heard from two concerned residents, one from Crossett Hill and the other from Connolly Road. Luciana Dirucco fears that the Class 4B road where her elderly grandmother lives is unsafe as it is eroding due to excess water from a culvert and traffic.
The road that has seen rain damage this year and Dirucco was concerned that the road is receiving an increase in traffic due to land purchases and logging. Select board members said that Dirucco isn’t the first residents to come forward about Class 4B and culvert issues this year and that the board is working on updating the town’s culvert policy. Since the road is a Class 4B road, the town does not maintain it for residents.
This week the board again discussed the 30-day limit that is required in the current policy to remedy problems caused by culverts that need attention. Board members added that in some cases 30 days may be too long, as damages can be inflicted on neighboring properties. On the other hand, 30 days may be needed as a homeowner may need to hire a contractor. Other members added that the town could fix the culvert for a charged cost to homeowners after that period. Residents must acknowledge letters from the town regarding culvert issue within seven days.
Keith Moreno who lives on Crossett Hill complained about road issues near his property and the buildup of sediment. Select board members have been visiting sites that community members have voiced concerns over. Board members concluded that ditching and road work in those areas had already been discussed with the highway interim foreman Kyle Guyette. Guyette said that the town is working to contract out ditching projects.
The board recommended that the Dirucco family gets together with neighbors on the road to pool funds to complete culvert and road repairs. Moreno, who coincidentally also serves on the Waterbury ambulance crew, added that the family should contact the fire department and ambulance crew to make a plan in case of an emergency so they can access the property.
“The town already has a culvert policy in place, but was reviewing it at the meeting for possible revisions … the board will review again before adopting the updated policy if they agree to do so,” wrote Duxbury Select Board assistant Jonathan DeLaBruere in an email.
MAIN STREET CONCERN
At this week’s meeting community members expressed their ongoing concern with Main Street traffic. People complained about residents putting personal signs in front of other road signs to slow down traffic, which is illegal.
Others said there were too many signs already on Main Street. Drivers are still blocking off the natural turn from the south entrance onto Main Street when they do not make the motion to veer slightly right at the posted yield sign. Other Duxbury residents said that some drivers don’t even complete a stop when coming off of River Road, or drive at excessive speeds.
Foreman Guyette suggested posting a state trooper there for speeding and enforcing road signs. State police cars have been known to sit on Winooski Street in Waterbury to catch speeders who are headed to River Road. Select board members indicated they would look into contracts or deals they could work out for police presence that would not be too costly for the town.
“It’s a lot of money till someone gets killed,” added Moreno. The town is in the process of having Main Street relined and striped near the intersection.
