Residents may have begun to notice roadwork around town, but this is just the beginning. Rather than repairing just eight roads, as approved by voters in May, a procedural misstep means that up to 15 roads may be repaired this year, at the direction of town officials, resulting in a special appropriation of more than $400,000.

At a special Board of Selectman (BOS) meeting on Sept. 19, the board voted to modify the Major Roads 2016-2017 approved Capital Improvement Program (CIP) project list, pending Board of Finance (BOF) approval, to include up to 15 roads.

The reason for the change and expansion of the list is a matter of procedure. A list of eight roads, approved by the CIP, BOS, BOF, and by the voters at referendum, included Sperry Road, Aileen Road, Farm View Road, Buttonball Lane, Colonial Road, Tibbals Bridge Road, Hunters Trail, and County Road Bridge. These roads were slated for reclamation (complete removal and replacement of pavement) this year under the CIP.

However, upon reviewing the list of roads with Director of Public Works John Iennaco, First Selectman Tom Banisch said they felt a different list of roads would be better suited for this year. Those roads included Hunters Trail, Copse Road, Fort Path Road, Wildwood Avenue, Woodland Road, Lovers Lane, Duck Hole Road, River Road, and Race Hill Road. Those roads have been scheduled for mill and overlay (where the top surface is ground off and the road repaved) through Tilcon, with some construction already underway.

Changing the roads scheduled for work presented a procedural, political, and public problem, however. By changing the roads already approved by the voters under the CIP and budget referendum, some elected officials said not reclaiming the roads listed in the CIP contradicts the procedure of the CIP as well as the regulations of the BOF and possibly the charter.

Banisch said he made a procedural error, but was looking to fix important roads at the right time.

“The one thing I did wrong was I didn’t understand that since [the initial roads list] was published in the paper that we were committed to it,” he said. “When John [Iennaco] took over, he and I were looking at the roads plan and he suggested to me that the plan we had in place was not the best plan. He said we could actually reclaim some roads that would otherwise go south. We could do the mill and overlay on, say, Copse Road and Fort Path Road and not have to do a total reclamation and that would be sufficient to bring them back to as good as a new paving because they haven’t deteriorated too far yet.”

While Banisch said the new list of roads appeared more practical, Selectman Joan Walker said the changing the road list circumvented town procedure and left behind other roads that were promised this year.

“These are the roads that were put in the public notice in the budget and now we are going around that and we have actually scheduled [the secondary list of roads] without any vote from BOS or BOF,” she said. “These were already scheduled and they are already being worked on so I am concerned that we are circumventing the process. The reason this process is in place is so no one person can shift priorities without oversight. This is just not being transparent.”

To rectify the procedural error and ensure no promised road was left out, through discussions with the CIP and input from members of the BOF, the BOS voted to combine the two lists and vote to approve a special appropriation in the amount of $446,097.10 from fund balance to cover additional cost.

The change in the major roads list and special appropriation are still subject to BOF and town meeting approval. While the expansion of the roads list seemingly rectified the error, the decision to expand the roads list came after a long debate over procedure.

At the CIP meeting on Sept. 15, committee members and Banisch debated the practice of listing roads in the CIP and the binding nature of projects listed in the program. Walker said changing the road list after the successful budget referendum was a deviation from proper procedure.

“We are doing everything backwards,” she said. “This is the issue with people saying there is no transparency because we say one thing and then behind the scenes we do another thing.”

Banisch, on the other hand, said the current nature of the CIP stops administrators from making real-time decisions.

“I have done everything I can to fix it, but the fact of the matter is they should have never put the roads in the paper in the first place because it basically ties your hands and what is the point of the CIP in the first place?” he said. “It is not to tie your hands, it is to provide funding for needed things.”

The CIP program, which replaced LOCAP, is now entering its second year. CIP member Bennett Pudlin said this incident highlighted an issue within the program.

“I think we now know that our process is not flexible enough and it doesn’t allow for changed conditions,” he said. “We need to do something right away to give us more flexibility so we don’t do this again in next year’s budget. I would urge us not to lock ourselves into specific roads going forward.”

CIP Chair Jean Fitzgerald said the most important thing is the road situation has now been rectified.

“In the end what is right is what is right for the whole town,” she said. “A mistake was made and I don’t even know if I will call it a mistake, but the procedure wasn’t followed and now we are trying to get back into the procedure to make it right.”

From here the combined list of roads will now move to the BOF on Wednesday, Sept. 21 (after press time) and then to a public hearing on Thursday, Sept. 29 at 6 p.m. at Town Campus.