Wells Acres residents demand full road reconstruction; town says sewer repairs led to overlay

At the Town of Farmingtoncouncil meeting on Jan. 13, 2026, resident Joanne White asked the council to honor a 2018 promise of a full road reconstruction for Wells Acres and presented a petition signed by 56 neighbors asking for a comprehensive project.

"We are not interested in the town patching our roadways. We want what was promised to us in 2018, a complete reconstruction of our roads," White said during public comment, adding she plans to file assessment appeals and is investigating possible court action if the town does not provide the reconstruction her neighborhood expects.

Town staff and the director of public works, Russ Arnold, told the council the work in Wells Acres began as a sanitary sewer infiltration and inflow remediation project. Arnold said video inspection in 2016–17 showed significant infiltration requiring deep sewer work; crews kept trenching tight, patched the trench and placed an overlay rather than doing a full reconstruction.

"Given those conditions, we anticipated a full reconstruction based on the depth of the sewer," Arnold said, describing why the work started with sewer replacement. "However, the contractor was able to keep this trench tight, didn't lose a lot of the road. They went down basically in the middle of the road. We were able to patch the road, patch the trench, and put on an overlay." He added: "I would do the same job again today given the same conditions."

Council members pressed staff on the discrepancy between the town's earlier written communications and what residents say they were promised. Finance and town manager staff acknowledged that letters could have used clearer wording and said the administration will improve scope communications in future notices.

Public works also outlined how the town decides between mill-and-overlay and full reconstruction: visual ride quality, the amount of prior patching and the condition of the base and drainage. Arnold said roughly 80–85% of the town's paving program uses overlay rather than full reconstruction, which is reserved for roads with failing base conditions or drainage systems that must be replaced.

Arnold and manager Kathy Blonsky told the council they will prioritize pothole repairs, driveway-juncture fixes and targeted patching in the spring, and asked residents to report significant problems so crews can schedule permanent hot-patch repairs when weather permits. Arnold said pothole complaints are typically addressed within 24 hours of a report.

The council did not vote on an immediate reconstruction project for Wells Acres at the meeting. It accepted the town manager's report and directed staff to clarify prior communications, inspect driveways and problem areas this spring, and return with additional information during upcoming budget and capital-plan discussions.

What happens next: Council members asked staff to present a clearer communications template for future letters to residents and to return with repair timing (planned spring patch schedule) and any budget implications as the 2026 capital planning cycle proceeds.