Little Compton council approves simplified Taylor’s Lane stormwater retrofit and awards construction contract

The Little Compton Town Council on Sept. 11 approved a simplified green stormwater infrastructure retrofit for Taylor’s Lane and voted to award the construction contract to Despontes Landscaping Services, after hearing extended public comment and design revisions intended to preserve parking and boat-launch access.

The project manager and designer presented a scaled-back design that removed proposed walkways, bollards and other amenities while keeping the stormwater management elements required by the grant. “We have substantially modified the design to take into account all the new components,” the project manager said, adding that Rhode Island Infrastructure Bank and its technical reviewers had cleared the simplified approach.

The council’s vote followed back-and-forth with residents who said they feared the retrofit would be overwhelmed by large storm surge and worried about parking, maintenance and visual impacts. “I can’t imagine that what you’re spending all this money to do is going to work,” one nearby resident told the council, citing recent high waves and storm damage. Project staff and the council’s consultant responded that the grant funding is dedicated to stormwater management at the road-side swales and that the work will reduce runoff and contaminant loading to the Sukenet River and nearby bay; they also noted that unused grant funds would revert to the grantor if not spent on the approved project.

Council members moved first to accept the modified design and then to award the construction contract. In the motion to award, the council recorded that the town retains the right to negotiate contract price based on design modifications and unit pricing included in bid documents; if negotiations with the recommended contractor fail, the town may negotiate with other bidders in ranking order. The motion to accept the design and the motion to award the contract both passed by voice vote (no roll-call tally recorded in the minutes).

Project staff said the revised plan focuses on converting existing roadside swales into planted bioretention areas, adding check dams and a vegetated berm to slow and treat stormwater, and replacing impervious gravel at the parking area with a crushed-stone, permeable surface underlain by a load-support matrix. The revised plan removes a previously proposed ADA overlook, permeable paved walkway and bollards to preserve vehicular circulation and boat-launch access.

Council members and staff also explained maintenance expectations: the swales and bioretention areas will require periodic mowing and occasional excavation and media replacement after siltation events. The project includes an operations and maintenance plan required as part of the Coastal Resources Management Council (CRMC) permit and the Rhode Island Infrastructure Bank funding agreement; the bank will conduct third-party site inspections before reimbursing work.

The council additionally accepted the project manager’s recommendation to award to Despontes Landscaping Services, noting the recommended contractor was the lowest responsive bidder and that references checked out; the town will use unit-price line items and negotiated reductions to align the awarded contract with the simplified scope.

The vote closes a multi-year grant-funded effort to reduce roadway runoff into impaired waters; speakers at the meeting stressed that the retrofit addresses precipitation-driven runoff rather than coastal storm surge or wave-driven erosion.

The council recessed briefly after the award vote to allow the town’s consultants to leave.