Road Advisory Committee

Town of Princeton, Mass.     --     Remote Meeting

ROAD ADVISORY COMMITTEE    Meeting Minutes, 1/19/2022 6:00 PM

Present: Chair Matt Granger, Members Al Pearson, Ann Neuburg, Daeg Brenner, Town Administrator Sherry Patch, Highway Superintendent Ben Metcalf, Advisory Board liaison Peter Giumette

6:01  PM                      Call to Order (GoToMeeting)

Administrative:            Unanimous vote to approve of minutes of 1/10/22 meeting.

Proposal reviews         Committee members reviewed pricing of the three proposals submitted for engineering the Worcester Road.

Unanimous consensus the project should be offered to VHB if the Sherry can work with Greg Russell to “move the needle” of VHB’s pricing.

Recommendation to Selectboard: VHB

Al: Motion:  To approve VHB as the vendor for engineering the Worcester Road project contingent on Sherry Patch working with Greg Russell to “move the needle” on pricing.

Vote: Unanimous “Aye”.

Sherry will report to the Selectboard next Tuesday.

Budgetary                     Committee members reviewed 2021-2030, Ver. 41.04 122621, Project Detail Worksheet.xls, a spreadsheet of road projects, costs, funds (see Referenced Documents:).

Selectboard is seeking a reduction in Highway Dept. funding. The $350K allocated by the Town has never been increased, thus the contribution has decreased every year. $82K of the 350 is entailed as debt repayment. Inflation (oil, asphalt prices) has returned. Committee members discussed potential mitigations:

Culverts, large projects, rebuilding 140, drainage, and sidewalks require engineering. Other projects (and portions of projects) can be “book jobs” requiring much less.

A variety of state agencies offer grant opportunities to engineer and construct culverts, contribute to sidewalks, etc. Sherry Patch described several opportunities she tracks.

Next steps:                Al, Matt, Ben will meet for 2-3 2 hour sessions to revise the 10 year plan.

                                    Sessions will be at the Town Annex.

First session is Thursday, February 3 at 10:00 am.

Next Meeting           TBD when working group revising the 10 year plan is ready.

Adjourn                     6:59

Respectfully Submitted    Ann Neuburg