BOF Approves Toddy Hill Bridge Grant, Hears About Fuel Issue
The Board of Finance on July 13 approved spending a $2.6 million state grant to complete a Toddy Hill Road bridge replacement and re-engineering of the intersection at Berkshire Road (Route 34). While that project is expected to ease weekday morning and afternoon gridlock in the area, the Toddy Hill Road work is among the preliminary, peripheral projects tied to a planned reconfiguration of Route 84’s Exit 11 interchange, according to Public Works Director Fred Hurley.
Mr Hurley told The Bee following the meeting that town engineer Ron Bolmer devised a way to complete the bridge replacement while keeping most of the existing traffic flow intact. The replacement bridge and culvert will be constructed beside the existing roadway, and during a low-traffic period of time, the roadway will be shifted to the new overpass.
That new crossover point will then feed traffic flow onto a newly engineered section of Toddy Hill road leading up to the Berkshire Road traffic signal. Mr Hurley said along with a wider approach that will split traffic into separate right and left turn lanes merging onto Route 34, the abrupt hill leading to the intersection will also be lowered, creating a longer and less drastic pitch as traffic lines up to make turns.
The finance board unanimously passed the appropriation with minimal discussion.
Too Much Diesel Fuel
Later in the meeting, the board briefly discussed an approximate $45,000 net loss resulting from the School District initially reserving more diesel fuel than was required for the 2014-15 fiscal year. Finance Director Robert Tait told the board that the approximately 20,000-gallon surplus was not used before the annual reservation period expired, so the town incurred the financial loss tied to the liquidation of unused fuel by a consortium the local school district uses for its diesel supply.
The issue came to the attention of the finance board after district Business Manager Ron Bienkowski made a note of it in May’s monthly financial report. That note appears to lay blame on the town for overpurchasing diesel fuel, and states that the issue will require further investigation and an unanticipated expense to the district.
The notation also references a communication between the district office and the town reducing the amount of an original diesel request, which was dispatched after the larger acquisition was already contracted.
Mr Tait explained that when the town contracts for a certain amount of fuel, “If you don’t use it, you lose it.”
Following the meeting, Mr Hurley clarified that while the overage ended up being less than 20,000 gallons, the penalty was not assessed at the retail price of about $3 per gallon, but at a liquidation price that lowered the town’s liability by about one-third. He said the town filled all available reserve tanks it could to minimize the surplus liquidation, and blamed the need to adhere to an extended reservation period for the overage.
Mr Tait said ultimately, the town picked up the tab, eliminating any final month special appropriation or unanticipated expense to the school district.
Mr Hurley said he has eliminated the likelihood this issue would crop up again, by ensuring the town and school district reserve a reduced amount of fuel for the coming year.
The public works chief said in the event the prepurchased amount runs out, the town would simply need to acquire the necessary balance for the year at whatever the retail price is at the time.
“The district contacted us when they became aware that quantities [of fuel] needed to be reduced, but we are forced to contract so far in advance that the originally requested amount was already locked and contracted by the time we received that request,” Mr Hurley told The Bee. “By reducing the minimum purchase requirement for the town and Board of Ed, we will be protected from this happening in the future.”