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HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT REPORT The Thetford Highway Department has been busy this past year with the usual ditching, culvert replacement, and brush cutting. Then we had the wind storm that took 3 days to clean up. The wind storm and power outage made us realize that we must do something different with our radio communication, so working with the Thetford Volunteer Fire Department we have come up with a plan to move our radio repeater from the Elementary school to the Thetford Hill fire station where they have an emergency generator. I would like to say that the town employees are working well together. I work almost every day with the Town Clerk and Treasurer and keep in contact with the Selectboard. When there is an emergency, the Highway Department works closely with the Fire Department and the police to make the response as fast and safe as possible. This makes the Highway Department an emergency response team and the town trucks emergency vehicles. After listening to scanners for three and half years, I know we have some of the fastest dedicated responders in the Upper Valley and I thank them for the job they do. The Highway Department had paving projects on Godfrey and Union Village where we hired Pike Industries; they did good work and were easy to work with. Our proposed paving projects for 2008 are spots on 132 which will need a lot of attention in the near future, the short dirt sections on Gove Hill and Robinson Hill because of salt bleeding off the pavement keeping the dirt soft and muddy making them hard to keep smooth, and Lakeshore Road and Cross Street because it will save time and be easier to maintain. The paving budget reflects an increase to make it more realistic with the price of paving. I will not be asking for any equipment this year although I think the town needs a new or a good used bucket loader to load trucks out of our stock piles and take some of the stress off the backhoe. Truck #4 is eight years old and the grader is 12 years old. They should be replaced in the next couple of years. As far as the garage goes, we closed in the rest of the pole shed out back to give us more secure storage. We could really use a storage shed that could house the grader, tractor, chipper, mower, and York rake. Stuff to think about in the future. Last, I would like to thank the road crew for the work they accomplished this past year and the Town for your support and remind you if you have concerns to contact me at 785-4679. Please go slow in work zones and have a safe 2008. Submitted
by: Douglas Stone, Road Foreman James Pero,
Thetford |
