Some towns may fund second round of 'shovel-ready' road projects

WINSTED — Members of the Litchfield Hills Council of Elected Officials — a regional planning agency that represents 11 area towns, including Winsted — is considering pooling any leftover American Recovery & Reinvestment Act grant money to fund a second set of projects in the area after it appears that most of the town’s first slate of approved projects will come in significantly under budget.

“The bids are coming in lower than initially estimated,� Richard Lynn, the director of the LHCEO, said.

Lynn pointed out that Barkhamsted will have a remaining balance of some $56,000 after it places a new overlay along Hillcrest Drive and Norfolk will have about $14,500 federal stimulus dollars remaining after it chip seals Riverton Road.

At the LHCEO meeting on April 7 in Winsted, both Barkhamsted First Selectmen Don Stein and Norfolk First Selectman Susan Dyer said they would like to return the surplus ARRA grant money to the planning agency’s coffers to use for a second round of projects in other towns.

Lynn said it is unclear at this time how much money will remain after the first round of shovel-ready projects are completed. But he said the agency should have a much better idea of what that dollar amount is once all of the bids are open and contractors are selected over the next few weeks.

“Then, the LHCEO will look at how best to allocate the remaining funds in the regional area,� he said.

If the agency would like to fund a second round of projects, it will have to submit proposals to the state Department of Transportation for approval by Sept. 15. The only catch is that those proposals cannot be submitted until the first round of projects in each of the 11 towns is complete.

“The time frame is very tight,� Neil Ryan, a state transportation official, said during last Friday’s meeting. “There’s not much lead time here.�

But LHCEO officials remain optimistic that they will be able to develop proposals for additional projects in one or more of their member towns.

“All the towns did a really good job,� Lynn said of the initial round of project development.

The Litchfield Council of Elected officials is made up of the first selectmen and mayors of the towns of Barkhamsted, Colebrook, Goshen, Hartland, Harwinton, Litchfield, Morris, New Hartford, Norfolk, Torrington and Winchester.