Highway Committee Minutes 3-24-2023

Highway Committee Minutes 3-24-2023

RUTLAND TOWN SELECT BOARD COMMITTEE MEETING

HIGHWAY COMMITTEE

FRIDAY MARCH 24^th, 2023

The Highway Committee of the Rutland Town Select Board met at 10:00 AM on Friday March 24^th, 2023, at the Municipal Town Hall. Present was Select Board Member Joe Denardo, Road Commissioner Dave Sears, representatives from Fuller Sand and Gravel, Wilk Paving and Pike Industries, and Town Administrator Bill Sweet.

1. Open the bids for the 2023 paving season.
   1. Fuller Sand and Gravel, Pike Industries,, and Wilk Paving each submitted. The bids are included at the end of these minutes.
   2. Commissioner Sears will review the bids and plans to make a recommendation to the Board at the next meeting.
2. Paving of Town Line Road.
   128. Fuller Sand and Gravel is the company awarded this work. They contacted Commissioner Sears recently to advise him due to inflation they must raise their cost by 8% in order to be able to do the project. The original cost was $220,128.40. The new cost is $237,762.96. This is an increase of $17,634.56.
   129. Alternatives were discussed, including accepting the new price, rebidding the project, not paving the road, or going back to the next lowest original bidder to see if they would honor their price.
   130. After discussion, and based on the reimbursement we expect from the paving grant, the committee will recommend accepting the new cost and moving forward with the approved contractor.
3. Discussed garage space with the addition of the new trucks.
   1. There is sufficient space now, some equipment can be moved to cold storage if needed.
   2. Discussed the future need to replace the salt shed. The location may be changed, and a storage bay could be added to it at that time.
   3. The current garage bays could be extended forward as well depending on needs.
4. Discussed energy efficiency efforts for this building. We are planning an energy audit of the building.
   1. Based on those results we would apply for a grant to improve the building.
   2. This could include bigger ceiling fans, new lighting and possibly a lowered ceiling.

 

5. Some work has been done on reworking ordinances relating to Highway needs. The Streets and Sidewalks Ordinance should be looked at first, because it affects other ordinances.
   1. Some drafts have been started and can be available for a meeting in the next 6 to 8 weeks.
6. Dave Dress, from the Carmel Place HOA has contacted a Board member about getting their road paved. They were told it was too late to be included this year, but there is no agreement in place for us to include them. They have been encouraged to contact us to be included in a committee meeting discussion, but this has not been done yet.
7. Discussed the Class 4 section of Quarterline Road. Residents from Clarendon have reached out to various town officials asking for the Class 4 section of road to be classified as a Class 3 road and improved. They have been referred to Clarendon officials to have that conversation.
8. 1 application has been received for the open highway position. The application period is open until it is filled.
9. Discussed the future of winter maintenance.
   1. We would need 5 to 6 trucks.
   2. A discussion will be had soon with our current contractor about options for the future.

 

 

The meeting adjourned at 11:10 AM.

Respectfully submitted, Bill Sweet