Road Work 2018 – Update on Major Projects

(Please refer to this document for the Board’s original plan).

The town discovered that both the Woodlands (Woods Run, River Rd) and Roberts Farm (Heritage Dr, Moses Carr Rd) had inadequate base structures:  mostly sand, rather than gravel. This caused the Board to rethink its plan of overlaying a large section of both developments. The Board instead chose to fully reclaim both developments and add sufficient gravel to provide a base that will ensure the best longevity for the eventual top-coating.   Here is the result of this year’s work and our expectations for 2019:

Woodlands:  the development was completely reclaimed, sufficient gravel was added to bring it to current standards and a binder asphalt coat was applied.  We expect to topcoat the entire development in 2019.. Shoulder work will be completed by the Highway Department this July.

Roberts Farm:  we reclaimed the planned section with the addition of sufficient gravel to bring it to current standards and applied a binder coat.  Shoulder work will be completed by the Highway Department in July. In addition, as planned, we dug out the “roller coaster” at the beginning of Heritage Drive.  The Pike construction crew found and removed old construction debris under this section of Heritage, causng the heaving and settling that has been occurring in this part of the road.  The crew went down about six feet, removed several loads of debris and refilled the hole with good gravel and construction fabric to try to mitigate the heaving problem. We are hoping that this will slow or stop the reacurring problem.  Because of the substandard base of the entire development, we will now plan to complete a full reclamation of the remainder of Heritage and Moses Carr, add a gravel base to bring it to current standards and apply a binder coat. We expect to be able to do this in 2019 but we are unclear whether the final topcoat will be done in 2019 or delayed to 2020.

Driveway Culverts

The maintenance of driveway culverts is the responsibility of the homeowner but the town has an interest in seeing that they are installed and maintained such that they provide for sufficient drainage and are built to current standards.   The Board is working with Road Agent Guilmette on a plan to provide homeowners with culverts at cost and have the installation completed by the Highway Department. Stay tuned.

Remaining Projects for 2018

The Board is working with Road Agent Guilmette on additional minor road repairs for this year to include work on Oak Street in coordination with the City of Dover.  Please stay tuned.

 

New Road Agent

The Select Board is pleased to announce the appointment of George Guilmette as our new road agent, effective October 10, 2017.   Mr. Guilmette comes to us most recently from the Department of Public Works with the Town of Berwick.     He has had experiences in many aspects of road maintenance and the Board looks forward to working with him to maintain and improve our roads and to manage our transfer station operations.   Welcome aboard, George!

 

The Select Board also extends its appreciation to the Road Agent Search Committee charged with reviewing candidates and making the recommendation to the Board.  The committee members are  Jodi Lavoie-Carnes, Nancy Dionne, Michael Lapoint, and Nate Mears.