If approved, the article would fund phase one of the Sugarbush Access
Road repaving project; the section of road starts near Gold Hill Road
and ends near the Wheeler Brook Apartments.
The one-time $375,000 expenditure will result in approximately 12 cents on the tax rate.
After a discussion about which section of the road should be repaved
first, select board members opted for the section of road that was
previously disturbed by the culvert replacement project and Sugarbush
pipeline replacement.
As to whether the town should ask for the money in an article rather
than incorporating it into the budget, select board chair Andy
Cunningham said, "Let the town tell us they want us to raise taxes" with
an article.
Select board member Bob Ackland said, "We've got to make a dent in this $4 million problem."
Town officials also discussed bonding the project; select board member
Kirsten Reilly said she was "uncomfortable with a bond for a continuing
expenditure."
Select board member Matt Groom said that the town needs to "catch up on
our untenable roads and fund them so it doesn't get to this level
again."
Ackland told fellow town officials that the request for potential
federal funding to repair the road "went into Senator Leahy's office
today" for review. Ackland also presented plans and a framework for the
project to members of the Mad River Planning District Steering Committee
in December.
MRVPD Steering Committee members voted in support of the repaving
project; director Joshua Schwartz said that the project was "not just a
priority for them but for us too." Steering committee members agreed,
calling the need to repave the road a "communitywide thing."
In October, Ackland told fellow town officials that there was a "remote
chance" that the town could receive federal money to repair the
Sugarbush Access Road.
Following a summer's worth of construction on the Sugarbush Access Road,
contractors for the project, G.W. Tatro, completed patch paving in the
spots that were disturbed.
The town then expressed concerns that the patch paving would result in
damage to the town's trucks and that the pavement would likely be ripped
up by the plow. G.W. Tatro owner Greg Tatro said that the town was
overreacting and that the pavement would not come up after the first
freeze, as Road Foreman Ray Weston previously predicted.
The total cost of repaving the road in two years, according to Road
Foreman Ray Weston, could reach $3 million to $4 million including the
replacement of the guardrails.
{loadnavigation}
