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Residents and conservation commission press town for fixes after Gay Road work; board approves temporary line painting
Summary
Select board members, the conservation commission and residents raised concerns about erosion controls, missing shop drawings and alleged contract noncompliance for the Gay Road reconstruction; the board authorized temporary line painting (~$1,000) for winter safety and agreed to pursue shop drawings and coordination with MassDEP and the conservation commission.
The Nov. 25 Select Board meeting featured an extended Gay Road update during which the board and conservation commission were presented with complaints and site observations that raised environmental and contract-compliance concerns.
The board reported $428,575 in completed work through Nov. 1 and discussed Chapter 90 grant funding and contractor questions. Select board members said they had not always been able to view complete financials and that several contract details—including shop drawings, traffic-control provisions and certain drainage and catch-basin work—required follow-up with the contractor and the highway superintendent.
Steve Garin, chair of the Conservation Commission, said his commission received an anonymous complaint and that a MassDEP representative visited the site. He said the commission’s site visit found limited erosion controls in places close to wetlands and that the construction drawings called for “extensively more erosion controls” than were in place.
Resident Dave (self-identified at the meeting) strongly criticized project oversight, saying the contractor did not install specified drainage and catch basins and that wetlands appeared to have been filled. “This town is misleading all of us,” he told the board, urging the town to correct deficiencies and produce documentation showing the contract was followed.
Board members acknowledged procurement and oversight gaps dating to how the project was procured and engineered. The board agreed to request shop drawings from the contractor and to ask the contractor to increase its engagement with the conservation commission. MassDEP staff indicated a remediation-first approach would be preferred if the responsible party cooperates.
To address immediate winter safety concerns, the board voted to authorize temporary line painting on Gay Road if it could be scheduled before the season ended; the highway superintendent estimated the cost at roughly $1,000. The board also voted to ask CMRPC about eligibility for a road-evaluation grant to consider more formal safety improvements such as guardrails.
What happens next: staff will pursue the contractor’s shop drawings and follow up with the conservation commission and MassDEP to develop remediation or mitigation options; the board authorized short-term paint lines and will evaluate longer-term engineering and budget needs in coordination with town staff and the contractor.
