Shutesbury Board of Selectmen
September 11, 2008 Meeting Minutes
Members present:  Chairman Rebecca Torres and Al Springer.
Also Present: Town Administrator David C. Dann and Administrative Secretary Leslie Bracebridge.
Meeting opened at 7:10 A.M. 
Mass Highway Resident Engineer for the Leverett, Cooleyville, and Prescott Roads Footprint project Brian Bellefeuille, met with the Select Board to review the status of projects costs: 
* The obligation for the town of Shutesbury would be anything over 10% over the bid price.
* The police details are not built into the contract.  Traffic police and phone are considered “companion” items as there is no way to predict those items in advance.
* For every item done, the contract has a quantity.  If the project doesn’t use the quantity, it goes back into the till.  
* Brian believes the project is over in only 3 or 4 little items including guardrail and the police details.  The state, not the town is responsible for police details.
* Police details are costing about $20,000/month. When machines are in the roadway, there is no choice.  They are currently down to three police.
* C & A is about 72% complete.  Within 2 weeks the top coat will be done.  The top coat is expected to take 2 days of work.  That’s the last big item dollar wise. “Carlos” (C & A supervisor) and his crew will leave after the top coat and another crew will come in for miscellaneous work such as new signs, lines and milling mulch under the guardrails.
* Discussion of a need for guardrail right across from Town Farm Road.  Both Highway Superintendent Tim Hunting and Brian agree.  At a later point in the meeting Brian recommended the town write a request letter to Al Stegermann, PE for Mass Highway who will pass it to Jimmy Hoey (Brian’s boss) who will write-up a change order.  The cost should not be too significant.  Right now the contract cost for guardrail is $67/meter.
* A Leverett Road area near Clarks and some places on Prescott Road could have had more berm and less ditch. It’s always best to follow the plans but it would have been less costly to just run berm.  The berms help with the storm-water drainage. Country drainage (rather than berms) across from Town Farm Road was due to MCD preferences.
* Brian does not predict the project going over the 10%.  
* A lot of ledge material that couldn’t be re-used pushed the gravel budget over, but Brian feels that the dollar item is insignificant.
* The pole on Montague Road is still in though David has made a call to Verizon.  Brian has not heard from them either.  David will give Verizon another call to change the pole before the paving in two weeks or they will have to pave around the pole leaving a hole once it is moved.
* David will talk with Conservation Commission about the retention pool at 187 Leverett Road and all wetland sites along the project.
* Carlos had a wetland specialist do the seeding.  The specialist will oversee the work for two years.
* Brian summarized that Carlos does a good job and has a good reputation in the district.
* Extra drainage work was needed at a driveway by the fire pond at Sullivan’s house. It was not called for in the plan.  Carlos went ahead and added a drainage structure that was missing.  Because there were 20 “drop items” for that, there were no overrun costs.
* Becky questioned if berm could be added to a section of Leverett Road similarly to the additional guardrail.  Brian explained that by the time the request went through the right channels, it would be too late. Because of the layering way the road is constructed, berm would have to go down right now.  Brian didn’t predict the area in question would be a problem.  Becky explained that historically it has been a washout problem area.  Brian noted that a lot of water is coming out of the Town Farm Road area which may be a problem.  
* A discussion concerning who would take financial responsibility for a truckload of contaminated soil that temporarily went to WW Clark’s excavating yard had the following points:  
o The Highway Department was asked to bring it to Onderick’s along with the large pile from the fire station as a cooperative measure.
o At $44/ton, plus time and fuel the cost to the town for taking the pile is about a $1,000. 
o If the state covers it, Carlos would have to do all the permitting processes that the town has had to go through.  
o Brian is not sure that Mass Highway owns the responsibility, as was the Select Board’s understanding from the fire chief’s original report. just because the dirt was under the road.  It was the Fire Chief who reported that it belonged to the state to the Board of Selectmen by.
o If it continues under the road and the road has to be torn up, is the town responsible to pay for tearing up the road?
o Licensed Site Professional Alan Weiss will determine the perimeter of the area to be excavated.  Brian:  it will probably fall back on the town because it would cause the project to go over the 10%.
o It is doubtful that the perimeter will be determined before the final paving.
o If the town takes full responsibility now and the state takes none; does it set up a precedence for later?  
o Brian does not know who is responsible.  He has never been in a situation like this before.  In cities like Springfield where these situations crop up regularly, the city is equipped to take care of it all.
o For Carlos to go through the channels will cost a lot of time and money. .  It cost the town over $7,000 for all of that.  Carlos would have to pay it out but he would get it back.  
o No one wants to keep it at Clark’s.  Everyone wants to take care of things.  
o Carlos would not get reimbursed if he just paid the costs directly to the town.  
o It’s either a loss to Carlos or a loss to the town.  Carlos has been very accommodating to residents along the way, yet for the town, it’s an enormous problem.   
o It takes 1.5 hours round trip for our highway department, per load.
Brian agreed to talk with Carlos to see what Carlos would like to do.  Brian will tell Carlos it will cost the town an extra thousand dollars to truck it away, The Selectmen will not made a final decision until all three discuss it at a regular meeting.
* Until a final determination of the perimeter has been made, there’s no sense in talking about damage to the road.  Drainage structures would need to be disconnected and the structures taken out.  It could involve a lot of money.  If there’s a changed condition, sometimes the contractor gets to re-bid that project.  It usually comes in a lot higher.
* Outside of the soil contamination, the town is in good shape.
* Extras happen on every job, but there were very few extras here.  Carlos has only overrun on a few items.  Except for paving, the major items are mostly done.  This is a result of good engineering and good quantities predicted to be needed for the project.  The extras money gets added into the contract.
Selectmen unanimously voted to write a request letter to MassHighway to request a guardrail be added to the project across from Town Farm Road.
* To a question of “Share the Road” signs, pedestrian signs, share the road signs, and snowmobile signs are already in the plans.  (Center line reflectors are not part of the project.)  
* Putting the top coat down at the end of September, will be a major project, stopping traffic for more than 10 minutes at a time.  Brian hopes that drivers will seek alternate routes on those days. 
Meeting adjourned at 8:30 A.M.                      Respectfully submitted,
                                                                             Leslie Bracebridge, Administrative Secretary
080911 Selectboard 1