Capital plan work continues

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S&S Asphalt Paving applies the asphalt top coat to Wheeler Road June 19. Work to prepare the road for paving began in April. (Dan Norton photo)

By MARJORIE NEEDHAM

First Selectman Edward B. St. John, Public Works Director Dan Norton and Peter Vaccarelli took time from their busy schedules this week to provide updates on work being done as part of the Capital Plan. Norton oversees the entire plan while focusing on road work. Vaccarelli is in charge of improvements at town buildings.

St. John said, “Things are going very well.” He said more has to be done, and residents will need to be patient. Norton also urged residents to be patient. “We are doing our best to get the work done. Don’t be bent out of shape if you have to wait or take a detour,” he said.

Norton said they are addressing the worst first, and that’s why Wheeler Road was one of this year’s first projects. Work on that road started April 10 and was being completed at the end of June. Norton explained road work begins with tree removal, then moves on to addressing drainage issues, preparing the road surface, paving it, installing curbs and then back-filling along the curbing.

Norton said Wheeler Road had to be totally rebuilt. “It was much more involved than we expected,” he said. “Time ticks by and roads get worse and worse.”

So much time had passed for Wheeler Road that the two most expensive road repairs were needed, reclamation, which costs $45.42 per square yard and milling and paving, which costs $16.68 to $32.09 per square yard. Norton said fortunately only a small section had to be reclaimed; on most of the road they got away with milling and paving.
Road work will continue with crack sealing on a lot of streets and at Meadowview, Schoolhouse and Ledgewood Parks.

Lists of town roads to be resurfaced are in the Capital Plan Update dated March 11, 2019. Pick up a copy at the town clerk’s office in town hall or download one at the town’s website, middlebury-ct.org. Click on “Town of Middlebury Capital Plan” under St. John’s picture.

Work supervised by Vacarelli includes installation of new generators. All of the town’s generators were at least 30 years old, and electrical loads have increased dramatically since they were installed. For example, Shepardson Community Center now has an elevator, a chiller and all sorts of electronic equipment it did not have when the generator there was installed.

One old generator, the one for the vehicle maintenance facility at Public Works, caused a lot of damage in March 2019 when it malfunctioned and caused a spike in electricity. Norton said it blew out about every electrical motor in the building. “You name it, and it fried it,” he said.

That brought Norton’s attention to the need for more surge protection than was originally planned. So Vaccarelli is shepherding installation of new generators along with whole-building surge protection in all town buildings.

The vehicle maintenance building generator was replaced out of necessity; the first planned replacement is the town hall generator, which is expected the last week of August or the first week of September. The new generator for Shepardson is scheduled to follow about three weeks later.

Other large projects being tackled this year include renovation of the assessor’s office. Vaccarelli said it will get new carpet, new paint, new cabinets and new furniture. He said that work will begin mid-July and take three to four weeks.

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) issues also are being addressed. ADA call systems required in the restrooms are being installed in town buildings that don’t already have them. In addition, the Shepardson upstairs men’s and women’s restrooms will undergo major renovations that hopefully will include a shower in each of them. This will better serve Shepardson’s use as an emergency shelter for residents. Vaccarrelli said an architect is working on this project and will draw up plans for it.

Two major improvements at Public Works will be a new hydraulic lift for the trucks and a new trash compactor. The new lift being installed this summer will replace one St. John said dated to 1960. He said he believed the town bought it used, so it has served the town well. It likely will be next year before the new trash compactor is installed.