Selectmen answer questions about roadwork

SHARON — A handful of town residents attended a special 11 a.m. meeting of the Board of Selectmen on Friday, May 6, at Town Hall. Questions and concerns were raised about roadwork now being done around town, and about whether the company hired to do that work is accomplishing the goals of the town, especially in reference to the edges of the roads. First Selectman Bob Loucks and Selectmen John Mathews and Meg Szalewicz attended the meeting as did the project’s clerk of the works, Gene Parsons, and several town employees. The contractor hired by the town to do the road work is Waters Construction Co. of Bridgeport and New Milford. Representing the firm at the meeting were President Mario Smith and Project Manager William Champagne.Smith presented a summary of work scheduled for the next month, noting that, “This is not a static thing. This is what we think the progression of work will be.” The pace of work can be affected by, for example,the weather, he said. There was an ensuing discussion of the process of reclaiming the roadway, backfilling and stabilizing the edge of the pavement. Reclaiming consists of pulverizing the existing asphalt and mixing it but trying to keep any bad material out of the mix, then compacting it to create the road base, according to Parsons.Sharon residents Howard Randall and Florien Palmer criticized the work being done on the road edges. They said that using soft topsoil beneath the edge of the roads would lead to cracking and failing of the road surface. Champagne disagreed, saying that of the 100,000 feet of edging on the town roads, only 1,100 feet, or about 1 percent, had failed since last fall. Loucks feels that this is a respectable number, considering the severity of the winter. Randall and Palmer said they would like to see a better percentage rate of success.Champagne said it’s not possible to guarantee the edge of any pavement that does not have a true shoulder. However, he said, his company is working hard to maintain the edging and the quality of the work within the constraints of the project’s budget.He also took issue with the statements by Randall and Palmer criticizing the quality of work being done on the roads, saying that they are misinformed. Randall had a letter to the editor in the May 5 issue of The Lake-ville Journal criticizing the quality of the work.“Why don’t you come out with us and see what we’re doing? I know we have freedom of speech and all, but you need good information,” Champagne said.“We’re living on planet Earth, and it’s an imperfect surface,” Loucks said, adding that, “If they find a soft spot, they fix it.” Then he said to Smith, “I think you’re doing a great job. Some people can never be satisfied.”Referring to the budget and the scope of the project, Szalewicz said, “We’re not rebuilding the roads.” Had town residents voted to pay for a full rebuilding of the roads, she noted, the cost would have been substantially higher.Smith asked for some feedback from the town on the backfilling his company has done so far. “We have an inspector testing, we’re doing what’s in the contract and not changing the nature of the base,” he said. But he does not want to proceed with work unless the town is comfortable with the base. Parsons said that roads deteriorate naturally over time, and that he can not guarantee that all the work will be and will remain perfect.“We can do anything you ask us to do,” Smith said, “but if it’s outside the contract it will mean extra billing.” He said Waters Construction would continue to do work based on the existing contract, but will look for direction from the town. “The roads have been inspected. We need assurances that it’s OK to pave, that we’ve done our job contractually, so we can move forward in a systematic manner.”It was decided that there will be a road meeting every Friday at 10 a.m. at Town Hall, with a Waters representative and the selectmen present. The public is invited to attend.To see the list of roads being worked on, go online to the town’s website at www.sharonct.org.