Town officials on Tuesday approved an approximately $485,000 contract with a Shelton-based company to replace aging sidewalks on Butler, Danvers and Whiffle Tree Lanes.
The old asphalt sidewalks in the “South of the Y” neighborhood are at least 30 years old, according to Public Works Director Tiger Mann.
“There’s no new installation, just the replacement of existing sidewalks,” Mann told the Board of Selectmen at its regular meeting, held in Town Hall and via videoconference.
“It’s basically phase two of the project of the behind the Y,” he said. “We did Putnam [Road] last year. And then that was approximately $500,000.”
Selectman Steve Karl, a 25-year resident of the neighborhood, said sidewalks there are “all sunk and they’re all broken up and everything.”
“But I will say, Sunday when the weather turned two, I think it was two weeks ago when we had that really warm Sunday, I walked the neighborhood and I counted at least 56 people using the sidewalk, the new sidewalks that were there,” Karl said. “It’s amazing how kids are out there. Everybody’s using the sidewalk, so it’s really amazing when you put those in, how much use they get. it’s needed back there. It’s been needed for years and we’re finally doing it.”
First Selectman Dionna Carlson, Karl and Selectman Amy Murphy Carroll voted 3-0 in favor of the $487,946.08 contract with Stumpers LLC.
That’s the same company that did the Putnam Road sidewalk replacement work last summer “and they did a very nice job,” Mann said.
“All the residents were very happy,” he said. “They were happy, residents were bringing out brownies, cookies, brought an ice cream truck for them one day. They were happy. At the time, residents were very satisfied, I got no complaints during the construction at all. So we’re confident that Stumpers will come back and do a nice job. I think they wanted to finish that whole area so that they could say that it was their work.”
Karl said that residents “were literally raving about the quality of people there [at Stumpers] from the flaggers to the guys on the jobs. They spent the entire summer together, basically.”
Stumpers won the bid among 13 respondents to the town’s RFP, Mann said. It isn’t clear just when the work will commence, though it will be wrapped up prior to the start of school at the end of August, he said.
Carlson noted that the town has received emails regarding sidewalk work needed on Southwood Drive.
Mann said that about $300,000 in sidewalk replacement funds out of $750,000 total in the DPW’s proposed spending plan for next year is dedicated to Southwood.
The funds “are slated for the Southwood Drive loop that connects with Gower Road,” he said.
Mann continued: And then we are looking at doing the walkway between Douglas and Gower next, as a walkway that connects the two, that connects to the school. To do that, I’ve got to get a wetland permit for that, and then that’ll help us tie into the rest of the work on Gower. That would be after Southwood.”