Dirt roads, detailed funding queries at town meeting

CORNWALL — A small, but engaged crowd of 25 attended the annual town meeting at Town Hall Oct. 28. Coverage of the portion of the meeting devoted to the bridge repairs was published in the Nov. 3 Lakeville Journal, but of course other important work was accomplished as well. There was little comment on the main order of business, a review of the town report, except for an impression offered by First Selectman Gordon Ridgway. “I think it shows a pretty healthy level of involvement in the town’s running,” Ridgway said.His point was illustrated by an agenda item to expand the Committee on Aging from five to seven members. The committee was recently re-established, with substantial interest, and a sixth person is anxious to help. A motion was unanimously approved to amend the resolution established in 1979. The selectmen are thinking, from experience, that they will have no trouble filling the last seat. The committee is appointed by the board of selectmen.As usual, residents came with questions about town matters. Hector Prud’homme asked about the status of the loan toward the demolition of Rumsey Hall. Ridgway said none of about $45,000 has been repaid and the town has taken legal action against property owner Andrew Hingson. There is also accrued interest, at 19 percent, which has been adding up over the past year on the bank-guaranteed loan.The dirt on unpaved roads“The town remains in a very good position as far as having a strong lien on the property,” Ridgway said.Who decides what dirt roads should be paved, and why, Judy Herkimer wanted to know.Ridgway said it is the jurisdiction of the Board of Selectmen. That board’s primary job has always been to allocate money for roads. It currently confers with the highway department. Decisions to pave are generally made for sections of roads that chronically wash out. For instance, a section of Pritchard Road was paved in recent years, as well as a dip in the middle section of Flat Rocks Road.“But a dirt road that is flat and easy to maintain, like River Road, will probably never be paved,” Ridgway said. “It costs quite a bit to widen and pave.”Herkimer was concerned about a recently paved portion at the top of Dark Entry Road. She was curious about the material used, which she described as millings with some sort of binder. She was also concerned that no one who lives there was approached about the project.Ridgway answered only to the paving question. The millings, or recycled asphalt, used on Dark Entry are an experimental approach that has been successful elsewhere. It stays in place better than gravel, and is a better option in some locations than the lime or trap rock often used. The goal was to remove that section of road from the top two of the most difficult to plow.Conservation CommissionPrud’homme also referred to the Cornwall Conservation Commission report. Although written after its Sept. 20 meeting, an update was requested.Committee Chairman Kim Herkimer gave the update, saying that much had occurred at several special meetings held more recently. “We have been brainstorming, and at the last meeting elected officers,” Herkimer said. “We are looking at easements and land use and trying to put together a repository to know what we have and what we will do with it.”Also, Patrick Mulberry was elected as secretary and Brian Thomas as treasurer. The committee was resurrected in February of this year, with a mission to oversee the town’s natural resources, including water resources, through identification and protection. The last meeting minutes found in the town clerk’s vault were dated September 1988.A five-year capital plan was also unanimously approved. Ridgway explained that it is not approval to appropriate funding for anything on the list; it is an ever-changing overview that serves as a tool for planning for future expenses. Currently at $2,230,000, it includes an annual amount set aside for the school and town building projects, as well as a current $30,000 per year toward the next fire truck purchase. Then there are highway trucks and heavy equipment that will need to be replaced, a new transfer station cardboard baler, maybe in 2013, and the largest expense: roads, bridges and culverts. Costs for road and bridge improvements are estimated annually at up to $250,000. Some of that bridge money will likely go toward work along Mill Brook at various places in West Cornwall. Ridgway said the selectmen are currently working with property owner Michael Trapp, whose retaining walls along the brook, just downstream from River Road, had significant damage from both Tropical Storm Irene and Lee (which followed less than a week later).

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