The Town Meeting warrant is available online here.
Article 18 is “Accept Roads as Public Ways” (roads in question are Cart Path, Catherine Farm Road, Cobblestone Road, Ellen Mary Way, Green Way, Pheasant Run, Plainview Road, Rose Hill Lane, Sage Hill Road and Lingley Lane)
The following was submitted by Board of Public Works chair Mike Lowery (on March 18):
Last night the BoPW held a Public Hearing on accepting layouts for streets proposed for acceptance.
The board decided not to act on Green Way until two issues are clarified:
- Ownership and access to drainage lot/area at the end of the road
(likely include in taking) - Sewer is under the street – would need legal agreement with owner of sewer concerning access, notification, and repair if opening necessary.
- Legal status of the bond (likely unavailable, but not determined)
Linked is a recap spreadsheet of all roads with data from Planning, DPW, and surveying. Any inaccuracies are mine.
We explained the Planning and BoPW roles and the BoPW goal to identify the cost to the town to bring roads into a reasonable state.
Plainview, Sage Hill require no work.
The work on Pheasant Run has a bond to cover it.
Catherine Farm, Cobblestone, Ellen Mary Way, and Lingley Lane: Mr. Kadlick recommended a crack seal and top coat process (Restore Seal) for the other roads which he felt would add 5-7 years. Recommendations are highlighted in yellow on the spreadsheet. This process cost $2/sq yard – and his cost estimates for each road are in the summary sheet. The sheet also shows Chapter 90 money we expect.
Total cost for Restore Seal cost for Catherine Farm, Cobblestone, Ellen Mary Way, and Lingley Lane is $9,656. Annual Chapter 90 effect for these roads $1250. So cost neutral effect over and eight year span.
While the board considered that drainage improvements might be necessary in places over time – this was taken to be normal for any road in town. The exception is Green Way which we voted to exclude.
The board voted 4::0 to accept the layout of all roads except Green Way, subject to the town surveyor creating as-builts for two roads lacking them and one whose as-built is deficient.
The board also voted 4::0 that the chairman follow up with the Planning Board and Town Counsel to determine what happened to the presumed $200,000 bond for Green Way.
Very considerable work was done by Don Ouellette, Stephen Kadlick, Sarkis Sarkasian, and Alf Berry – the board appreciates the level of effort required to answer our questions and bring the needed information together.
We believe the town now has the information it needs to make its decision.
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Plans presented at the hearing:
