Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Infrastructure Streets topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Select Board authorizes use of Right Road bond funds, waives purchasing policy and empowers DPW to award bid
Summary
After residents outlined drainage concerns, the Select Board voted unanimously to use remaining bond proceeds ($55,600) to finish Right Road, waive purchasing rules for received estimates, and authorize the DPW director to award the contract; a motion to provide winter maintenance that would trigger implied acceptance failed.
The Select Board voted on Dec. 8 to use the remaining $55,600 in bond proceeds to complete construction work on Right Road, authorize the Brookline Public Works Department to award the winning contractor from the estimates the town has received, and waive the town’s purchasing policy for this procurement.
The discussion followed a presentation of five contractor estimates to remediate nonfunctional infiltration basins and complete paving; estimates ranged from about $16,750 to $40,777. The town planner estimated a completion cost of approximately $52,000 if town crews contributed labor and $75,631 if all work were contracted. Board members debated whether to outsource all work, have the DPW do portions in-house, or combine approaches to stay within bond proceeds.
Residents from Right Road, including Steve Mullen and Dave Siri, described the drainage as shown on original plans and asked the board to determine when deficiencies were identified relative to earlier bond reductions. Legal counsel’s opinion — summarized at the meeting — was that the town must use the bond proceeds for finishing the road but is not obligated to commit additional town funds beyond the bond.
Select Board member moved and the board approved an amended motion to exhaust bond proceeds for finishing the road, waive purchasing policy for the current estimate set, and allow the DPW director to award the winning bid. The vote to use bond proceeds and to authorize the DPW was unanimous. A separate motion to authorize winter maintenance on the private Right Road, which would have resulted in implied acceptance of the road before all town specifications were met, failed.
The board instructed staff to document the process and to prepare records showing the conditions under which implied acceptance could occur, and agreed to follow up with the town engineer’s inspection records to determine when infiltration basins began failing.
Next steps: DPW to proceed with awarding the bid under the amended purchasing approach; staff to prepare minutes and records reflecting the board’s decisions and to collect engineering timeline evidence for bond-reduction review.
