Roads and Sidewalks Workshop

Last night, July 23rd, the Master Plan Implementation and Oversight Committee hosted a public workshop, focused on 'Roads and Sidewalks'. Department of Public Works Director Robert Desmarais spoke. Despite the extreme thunderstorm that passed by, there were about 30 or so folks there, including a few current and former Municipal Councilors.

Mr. Desmarais talked about how the Town approaches road and sidewalk maintenance and repair. With the recent decision to take out a $15 million+ bond on water treatment and water line upgrades, we've taken a good step to start catching up on deferred investments in infrastructure. He identified about $66 million worth of needed infrastructure work:

*$17 million in Roads
*$14 million in Sidewalks
*$10 million in Drainage
*$20 million in Water
*$5 million in Sewer

And here is what we have budgeted for annual repair and maintenance work:

*$75,000 for Sidewalks
*$85,000 for Engineering
*$60,000 for Drainage
*$30,000 for Roads

Now, on one level, this makes some sense. For long-lasting major capital costs like water works, roads, and drainage systems, investment expenditures should be spread out over many years, just as benefits. So, major road or system work wouldn't be paid for out of the operating budget in one year but rather in long-term loans or bonds. That's what the Town did with the big Water bond this Spring, make a big investment through a low-interest, long-term bond. Still, $250,000 for all road and sidewalk work doesn't go to far even just for maintenance. If the Town wants to make progress with the backlog of work above, then it will need to consider making some major investments, which of course means $$$ and burden on the tax-rate. The eternal trade-off. There are options outside of an over-ride for this, such as using a debt exclusion, as our neighbors in Newburyport will have on their ballot this year for similar big investments in road repair.

Mr. Desmarais also talked about how the DPW approaches road maintenance. In line with one of the recommendations from the Master Plan, the Town is instituting a 'pavement management' plan takes an organized approach to approaching road repairs.

The need for some serious --- meaning expensive --- repairs is clear. As with the Water Bond bill, the big question is what can we afford and when, in terms of timing new with current debt. But the longer we take on it, the more it will add up.