Hard roads to travel in the Lakes Region

according to Terenzini. Though he suggested that they could potentially scale back plans for Glidden Road, Terenzini said he was concerned about the system of communication between LBG Engineers and the town,and that the town needs to examine how it contracts with engineers. Selectman Joel Mudgett said he understood that costs have been rising for asphalt, but added that increases like the one on Kona Farm Road - from $62,000 to $95,000 – require a further explanation from the engineer. The board had originally intended to repair Ossipee Park Road, Sawmill Road, Kona Farm Road, Hanson Mills Road, Shaker Jerry Road, and Glidden Road. “We’re going out to bid on road projects that could come in way over what we budgeted,” said Chair Karel Crawford. “How does that sit if we have to pull out certain roads?” Terenzini suggested pulling Glidden, the most expensive of the five, excluding Ossipee Park Road, and keeping it as an alternate. Once the bids were in for Kona Farm, Hanson Mills, and Shaker Jerry Road,Terenzini said the board could explore a bid for Glidden, if they had space in the budget. “What bothers me is that we’ve been discussing this since fall, what was and wasn’t feasible,” said Selectman Ed Charest. “If the price jumped that much, they should have contacted us.” The board took Terenzini’s suggestion and decided to go out to bid on the road projects, with improvements to Glidden Road as an alternate. In Meredith, after pruning back chip seal repairs and planned road projects for the year to keep the budget balanced, selectmen were confronted with the increasing cost of road construction. Bids for the Batchelder Hill Road project, approved at $250,000 in the 2008 budget, came back in amounts between $377-423,000. Town Manager Carol Granfield said that the town had questions on these bid amounts, and would be reviewing the bids and the project. No bid has been awarded, Granfield said, and modifications may be made to the project. “This throws up a huge red flag,” said Selectman Colette Worsman. “It’s one-third over the review. I don’t want to put the job out to bid, if it’s going to become another bathhouse, where we shave (costs)here and there.”Granfield said that the Public Works Department was in a “transitional period” when the bids came back, referring to the brief placement of Director Mike Faller on administrative

leave during a DES investigation, when the department was under the jurisdiction of Faller’s assistant, Al Bolduc. She also said that intent was not to cut back on the project, but to question if what went out to bid went beyond the warrant article. “I’d like to see real detail on this,” said Worsman. “We just readjusted things, and the departments did a great job readjusting. This could throw us for a loop.” Granfield said that the town would not spend more than the allotted amount, but that if modifications needed to be issued, they would see if the project needed to be laid aside for a subsequent year. Last week, the Meredith Board of Selectmen confrontedunanticipated expenses like the Waukewan bathhouse and the rising price of fuel, adding up to a total of $124,814.07. Acting Public Works Director Al Bolduc recommended eliminating Old Follet Road from the 2008 schedule, eliminating the overlay and shoulder work on Northwood Drive, and not using chip seal on Neal Shore Road, Cozy Cove Road, Anntom  Road, Chemung Road, and Camp Waldron Road. With the cost of working on roads, pushing back the work on these roads may provide much of the savings that offset the overages.

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