Southwick DPW Director Randy Brown. (Photo courtesy of Greg Fitzpatrick)
SOUTHWICK – The Select Board approved DPW Director Randy Brown’s request for Chapter 90 funding at their weekly meeting Monday evening. The funding would amount to $466,000 so the DPW can do road paving, crack-sealing, and drainage work on various roads.
Some of the locations and road work that need to be done are: drainage on Point Grove Road, drainage and road paving at Coes Hill Road and Hillside Road intersection, and crack sealing on various roads. There will also be a process called cold in place – recycling the asphalt while adding more liquid asphalt, stone, and sand to create a proper mix that is all mixed together – and paving on sections of Hillside and South Longyard Road along with storm water treatment units for Congamond Road.
Despite getting the approval from the Select Board for Chapter 90 funding, Brown was also looking for the Select Board to spend bigger amounts of local appropriated money as part of the town’s paving management program. A program created by the DPW, the paving management program was developed by the BETA group and a software program that inputs current road conditions in Southwick.
Brown noted that the program is basically a road map, it determines the most cost-effective way to manage the road network. According to Brown, the program recommends that the town spends around $700,000 a year just on paving. This doesn’t include drainage or any utility work.
Brown expressed the importance of following the program.
“There’s a lot of work that needs to be done town wide,” said Brown. “We’re trying to follow the paving management program the best I can to prioritize the best projects.”
While Brown pointed out that some roads that are in good condition may need just a crack seal, other roads that are in worse condition and might need complete road reconstruction.
“As the road deteriorates, you have to get into more substantial repairs,” said Brown.
The roads right now that need heavier repairs done and cost a lot more money include Granville Road, Kline Road, Robin Road, Woodside Circle, George Loomis Road, and North Longyard Road.
“That’s just the tip of the iceberg,” said Brown. “Those are the roads at the top of the list.”
At the Select Board meeting on Monday night, Select Board Clerk Russ Fox rejected Brown’s request to spend a larger sum on reconstructing some of these roads.
“I just know we don’t have the money to do it the right way,” said Fox. “We need to do some patching before somebody gets hurt.”
Fox recommended to Brown that he have some of these roads re-patched as more of a temporary fix and wants Brown to look more at the cost figures for reconstructing some of these roads.
Brown will be looking at any grant opportunities that may help fund the costs for these higher-paying projects. The Select Board gave their blessing to Brown for him to pursue a grant opportunity through the Mass Development Program. The program that provides funding to improve and promote industrial areas through infrastructure upgrades. Brown can request up to $50,000 for funding.
