Notes from the December Road Advisory Meeting

About 10 of us attended the Road Advisory Committee's meeting on Thursday December 4th.  We learned that the DPW director is working on a report for the Board of the Selectman in regards to paving Ship Pond Road.  Sid Kashi  (The town's DPW engineer) was in attendance and was able to provide some details.  It sounds like the DPW agrees that it's time to pave Ship Pond Road.  The report that they are working on will outline the necessary steps and request commitment from the board of Selectman before they proceed. The road will have to be widened and drainage easements need to be obtained.  This can get complicated if property owners object.  The Selectman can take the property needed for drainage easements by eminent domain if need be, the DPW needs to know they will before they move forward.  This is exactly what happened on the Valley Road / Roxy Cahoon paving project that the DPW is currently working on.  It sounds like the report will be ready in the next few weeks.  We need to be there when it is brought before the board of Selectman.  Selectman Tony Provenzano was also in attendance at the RAC meeting.  He said it's important for the selectman to see and hear the residents concerns when they make these decisions. The meeting agendas are posted on the town calendar.  I'll watch them and let everyone know when this meeting will take place. In the meantime, if anyone has ideas to help gather support please let me know. I'm trying to contact the Cedarville Steering Committee to ask for their support.  Oh and Sid mentioned that Ship Pond Road is an evacuation route! (obviously a decision made by someone that has never actually seen Ship Pond Road). I was not aware of this, but I think we can leverage that fact as a strong argument for paving it too.