Loucks pushes to start road work

SHARON — Road repair work is about to begin. On Monday, Sept. 13, at a special meeting, the Board of Selectmen approved Waters Construction of Bridgeport to do the project.

The company submitted a bid of $5,204,350, which is lower than the $6,280,000 approved by residents for the project at a special town meeting in late August.

First Selectman Bob Loucks said work is scheduled to begin around Sept. 27 — but it will start without a clerk of the works to oversee the finances and manage the progress of the project.

At the selectmen’s regular meeting at Town Hall on Tuesday, Sept. 14, the board took time to put together a help wanted advertisement for the position.

At the meeting, Loucks said the position would be temporary, but did not say for how long it would last.

“This will not be a position that the town will supply benefits for,†Loucks said.

Selectman Meg Szalewicz told Loucks she is not comfortable having the project get underway without a clerk of the works.

“No, I’m not really comfortable either,†Loucks agreed. “But I’m sure it will take a while to get everything up to speed [with the project], including moving equipment along and things like that.â€

While Loucks said he had ideas of which roads would be worked on first, he did not specify them at the meeting.

Previously, at the special town meeting held in August, Loucks said Calkinstown Road, West Cornwall Road and West Woods Road No. 2 would take top priority.

He said the town is looking to hire a clerk of the works by the beginning of October.

As for notifying residents where construction is taking place, Loucks said updates will be posted on the town’s website at sharonct.org.

The project will include upgrades and repairs to 40 miles of roads, including 31.5 miles of road that will be “reclaimed†and 7.8 miles of road that will have a new overlay.

Meanwhile, some other projects have already begun, on Calkinstown and lower King Hill.