Ackland said, “Here it is July 12; we pulled the trigger in March and we’re not even in the ground. I’m not happy. I think it’s appalling and shows me that we have some type of process problem within our system. I don’t understand it, I really don’t.”
On Town Meeting Day, voters unanimously approved Article 7 to fund the Sugarbush Access Road repaving project at a cost of $375,000. The project consists of paving an eight-tenths-of-a-mile section of road starting in the vicinity of Gold Hill Road and ending near Wheeler Brook.
Town officials hired Mark Bannon of Bannon Engineering to complete the engineering of the one-mile paving project. Bannon was among three engineers who met with Warren Department of Public Works Director Barry Simpson to discuss the project scope.
On Tuesday, Simpson told town officials that “Bannon and the other engineers all looked at it and had slightly different ideas. Bannon came up with alternatives; one of them was just paving it.”
Ackland said that the reason the section of road selected for repaving is so short is because it involves more than just paving: “It was a very detailed spec that spelled out what we want to do to that road; the estimate was for the digging, repairing, filling and paving of the road. That’s the reason we could only do that short section.”
Select board chair Andy Cunningham said, “We need to do whatever we can to find the breakdown.”
Ackland said, “There doesn’t seem to be a sense of urgency; do we not have a process in place to move forward? A set of specs went out in March that were very clear, and we’re still arguing about them; no one seems to have closure on it. I met with Bannon and cleared up the error almost six weeks ago.”
Cunningham said that he was under the impression that Bannon was going to be putting the project out to bid. “We’re not the engineers so I’m not sure what we’re going to tell them; we set the parameters and he runs the show.”
Town Administrator Cindi Hartshorn-Jones said that Bannon wants to make sure the board is okay with the set of specs including changing the dates.
Ackland said, “Ray sent the specs; why do we need anybody but Ray to approve it? It’s complicating the project.”
Weston said it would be possible to drive on the road with just the base of pavement completed, rather than applying top course in October.
Ackland said, “I realize that’s doable, but I can’t look at the citizens of this town in good faith that it’s not done; it took three to four months to get a bid out on a fairly straightforward thing, and we haven’t got anything on the books.”
Cunningham said the town should move forward and give Bannon the go-ahead and put the bid out as soon as possible.
Simpson told town officials that there is a pre-bid meeting scheduled for Friday, July 15, and bids are supposed to be in by July 22 at 1 p.m. The winning bid will be awarded at that point; then the contractor has a few weeks to sign a contract.
Select board members voted in favor of putting the Sugarbush Access Road repaving project out to bid on Friday.
Ackland said, “I don’t want this swept under the rug; just approving this doesn’t address the real problem of getting things done. That’s what bothersome to me.”
Cunningham said, “I take your point, Bob, that we’re not pushing ahead fast enough. I’ll take some of that right here; the select board forum doesn’t lend itself to quick action. I think it’s one of our main challenges.”
Simpson said, “If this is a problem, I’m quite willing to accept it, but I have done everything you said on your two-week schedule including calling Mark Bannon regularly the day after you make a decision. It costs quite a bit more than what we projected for a complete top to bottom renovation which this still isn’t.”
The next meeting of the Warren Select Board is scheduled for Tuesday, July 26, at 7 p.m.
{loadnavigation}
