Orwell officials to contact contractor over Route 73W pavement cracking; salt-supply planning underway

Glen Cousineau raised a citizen concern at the April 13 meeting that the pavement placed last year on Route 73W is "cracking and raising." Road Foreman Allen M. Alger said the town has seen substantial cracking and that the paving "should have lasted more than one year," and he said he will contact Wilk Paving to seek a response.

Alger provided the highway report, saying the road crew has been grading, hauling gravel and preparing the salt-shed site; paving of that site will be done last. He told the board the crew will move to a four-day, 10-hour schedule from May 1 through early October and that they plan routine maintenance this week. The board decided to leave a radar speed sign out overnight and asked staff to confirm that posted speed-limit signs are correct.

On salt procurement, the board said Brian Sanderson from the Agency of Transportation instructed road foremen to reach out to suppliers and secure contracts; members discussed signing a Cargill contract and using Barrett Trucking as backup, and noted interest in arranging a county-level contract for redundancy. Les Wood reported that the old salt/sand building has been removed, aluminum recyclables were separated and turned in, and Myron's poured the concrete pad for the new shed; the remaining Butler building may be painted to match other town buildings. Paperwork was submitted to the Division of Fire Safety for inspection and the town will need electrical and plumbing permits for some work.