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DPW warns of tight highway budget, highlights paving costs and Chapter 90 limits
Summary
Public works director said the Highway budget was submitted level-funded but faces disallowed amounts that will require cuts to supplies, pavement maintenance and tree work; speakers flagged high paving costs and limited flexibility of Chapter 90 funds.
Town of Templeton Highway Director Robert Sosik told the Select Board on March 2 that his FY2026 operating request is essentially level-funded compared with the prior year but faces several ‘‘lump sum disallowed’’ adjustments the board must absorb as it finalizes the budget.
Sosik said personnel steps were included where applicable and that the department currently shows six full-time highway workers listed under the highway account, with additional grounds positions elsewhere in the budget. He said he expects to hire at least one laborer and possibly a foreman in the coming year but cannot set exact costs until union negotiations conclude.
Sosik highlighted capital and supplies pressure: the highway supply and maintenance lines include proposed cuts that would reduce pavement painting, tree-cutting and cold-patch/hot-mix supplies. "Everything's going up and up and up," Sosik said, describing a $56,640 disallow on the capital side that he would likely try to absorb by trimming vehicle repairs, tires and batteries where possible.
Why it matters: The department said a full pavement program is expensive; Sosik and speakers at the meeting cited a local estimate of roughly $1 million per mile for full reconstruction and said a 2018 road study estimated tens of millions in needs. They also discussed Chapter 90 — the state program that funds local road work — and its limits: Sosik said Chapter 90 cannot fund small patch projects under minimum length/eligibility rules.
Key discussion points: Select Board members and Advisory Committee members pressed Sosik on options to save money. Ideas discussed included regional sharing or rental of larger “hot box” asphalt heaters, reusing reclaimed pavement millings, and buying a larger hot-box unit (three- or four-ton) to produce in-house hot mix. Sosik said the town already owns a small hot box and has considered conversion kits or partnering with neighboring towns to share larger equipment. He reported prior experience where neighboring towns rejuvenated leftover pavement and used it to save costs.
Capital funding and constraints: Committee members noted that Chapter 90 is distributed by road miles and population and that the town typically receives around $350,000 per year but that prior years’ distributions varied. Sosik said he was preparing the town's Chapter 90 plan and that certain projects must meet minimum lengths and design thresholds to qualify.
Environmental and regulatory notes: The highway director reminded the board that the town's MS4 stormwater management program is required for compliance and that failure to continue it could expose the town to penalties. He also corrected a line-item error in the budget where a street sign replacement was listed as $50,000 but should have been $5,000.
Next steps: Sosik said he will refine the budget once union negotiations conclude and will return with chapter-90 project planning. Board members said they want to consider equipment-sharing or rental agreements and to examine whether the town can better capture road millings for reuse.
Direct quote: "I pretty much, did a level budget, the best I could," Sosik told the boards as he opened the highway presentation.
