BRATTLEBORO — This summer's public parking paving plans include something extra for the Harmony Lot: pedestrian safety improvements.
The municipal parking area, located on the block behind High, Main, and Elliot streets, will get “long overdue maintenance improvements,” Assistant Town Manager Patrick Moreland told The Commons.
In addition to new asphalt resurfacing, sidewalks will be added and improved.
The block at 15-25 Elliot Street will have improved sidewalks and curbing on the north, east, and west sides. Workers also will replace the sidewalk running from the southeast corner of 49 Elliot St. to 26 Harmony Place.
The new sidewalk, flush with the ground, will connect the concrete walk near the rear entrance to Everyone's Books to the sidewalk that surrounds the southwest corner of the Brooks House. The path is a “visually alerting message: This is where people walk,” Moreland said.
The two long islands running east-west in the lot will get some work, too. Moreland said workers will “pull out the paving stones,” add drainage grates around the trees, and lay down a paver walkway.
At the June 20 regular Selectboard meeting, Moreland presented the bids the town had received from the request for proposals.
The project will require a few weeks of closures at Harmony Lot.
Moreland said the plan is to close the east side of the lot while workers tear up the west side, and vice versa. But, he warned, there will likely be a few days when the entire lot is closed to lay down the top coat of asphalt.
Because the bid was recently awarded, town officials and the contractor haven't yet set a date for the Harmony Lot closures, Moreland said. The best estimate he could give as of press time is “likely the last week in July or the first week of August."
At the June 20 regular Selectboard meeting, Moreland presented the bids the town had received from the request for proposals. The two local bids, from Bernie LaRock & Son Construction and Zaluzny Excavating, came in with a $50 difference. The Selectboard - at the recommendation of the town manager's staff - unanimously awarded the lower bid, for $293,850, to Zaluzny.
The original scope of the paving project was to include four town lots, including Harmony Lot. The Selectboard budgeted $302,000 for the work. But the bids came in much higher than expected, which Moreland attributed to the engineers possibly underestimating the costs, and other factors “out of our control or knowledge.”
Board member John Allen asked Moreland if the town should re-bid the work.
“Not if we want to do the work this year,” Moreland said.
He explained the short window for this sort of project.
“We have to finish before the asphalt hot-mix plants shut down and the snow falls. Waiting will be pricier,” Moreland said.
Because of the higher-than-expected bid, Moreland suggested decreasing the project from paving four lots to three, and keeping Harmony Lot's pedestrian safety improvements. The Harris Place and Gibson-Aiken Center lots remain in the current paving plans.
The Preston Lot, which was due for a fix, won't get paved this year. The estimate for that project was just under $50,000.
Selectboard Chair Kate O'Connor asked Moreland when the Preston Lot will get its turn.
Moreland said he didn't know, but DPW staff “will be on the lookout” for opportunities to lay a thin coat of asphalt or patch up some of the potholes. He said it probably won't get a full fix until fiscal year 2019.