Large-scale projects cause DPW's budget trouble
By Caitlyn Kelleher JOURNAL REPORTER

The Ashburnham Department of Public Works has $5,000 left in its operating budget after a large variety of unexpected road repair projects, according to town officials.

DPW Director Don Ouellette met with Selectmen during their Monday, Oct. 1, meeting to share with them the status of his budget.

"I'm going to be struggling," Ouellette said.

Voters originally approved $133,500 at the spring town meeting for the repairs and maintenance budget for Fiscal Year 2008. Ouellette said repairs for the Westminster Street bridge, the repairs on Ashby Road near the intersection with Stowell Road, the repairs on Central Street and a variety of other projects have used up that money as well as money left from other fiscal years and the state's Chapter 90 road construction money.

The project list was developed this year after the town meeting because of the flooding from a large-scale rainstorm on April 16, and a tractor-trailer crashing into the already damaged Westminster Street bridge.

Interim Town Administrator Paul Boushell told selectmen that it was not due to mismanagement or misspending.

"This is because our infrastructure is crumbling," Boushell said.

The most expensive project has been the replacement of the Westminster Street bridge.

Ouellette has used $90,000 to replace the bridge and the town doesn't expect to get any of the insurance money from it. Boushell said the town's insurance carrier has already denied the claim and that a lawsuit would cost about as much as the town would see from the truck driver's insurance company.

He said he'd already reported the previously existing problems with the more than 90-year-old bridge to the state.

Residents who were attending the meeting asked about the angle of the bridge. Ouellette said it is off about 12 degrees from goal.

"It was hard to get the angle right," Ouellette said.

The bridge, which will be four feet wider and will have a new five-foot wide sidewalk, also had to be designed around the riverbed and some ledge.

The snow and ice removal budget is a separate operating budget because of the way it is appropriated at town meeting and regulated by state law, said Boushell.

The snow and ice removal budget is the one line item that is allowed to run in deficit. The deficit must be covered through the next year's budget or by any surplus left at the end of the year.

The other budget that is separate is the employees' salaries. This budget has enough money to carry the department through the regular salaries for the remainder of the year.