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Selectmen agree to defer Stoneham chip seal, prioritize two paving projects
Summary
Brookfield Selectmen voted to defer a planned chip seal on Stoneham Road this year to stretch the town's paving budget and instead proceed with two larger paving/reclamation projects after reviewing contract bids and available funds.
Brookfield Selectmen voted during a joint working session with the municipal records committee to postpone a scheduled chip seal on Stoneham Road and apply the paving budget to two larger projects.
The board discussed options after hearing that the town has $150,000 budgeted for asphalt maintenance this year and a $53,530 carryover encumbered from last year. Staff described a chip-seal contract for Stoneham Road priced about $61,000 if the vendor reaches a 20,000-square-yard price point, or roughly $65,000 if the town falls short of that volume. Selectmen were told Kearney Road is a much larger site (about 31,000 square yards) that would reach the lower unit cost, while Clark Road would need roughly 12,000 square yards plus an overlay to be eligible for the lower rate.
In addition, staff presented a separate reclamation estimate for a stretch of Moose Mountain Road. The contractor's original price for reclaiming, adding gravel, and paving 2 inches of asphalt was roughly $76,000; upgrading the surface to 3 inches raised that estimate to about $95,000 because of heavier truck traffic and the road's condition.
After discussing whether to pay the higher per-square-yard price this year or to find enough additional square yards to hit the lower threshold, Selectmen agreed not to spend the extra roughly $4,000 this year on Stoneham chip sealing. Instead they voted to proceed with two of three proposed jobs and postpone the chip seal, which staff may re-bid or encumber for the following year. The motion to proceed with the two prioritized jobs and skip the Stoneham chip seal passed on voice vote.
The board also discussed options for smaller maintenance work (crack sealing performed by town crew) and longer-term fixes on heavily damaged segments of Moose Mountain Road that would likely require box cuts and multi-year budgeting if addressed comprehensively.
Selectmen directed staff to hold the chip-seal contract possibility for next year and to continue evaluating which pavements can be grouped to achieve the lower unit price; staff said they expect the town can locate additional square yards next year to hit the 20,000-square-yard threshold if it chooses to delay the chip seal.
