North Glastonbury "Spring" Gravel and Grading Work
Aug 12, 2017 10:24:42 GMT -7
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Post by Admin on Aug 12, 2017 10:24:42 GMT -7
North Glastonbury "Spring" Gravel and Grading Work
The spring gravel and grading was recently completed in North Glastonbury. Usually the first road work is completed by the middle of June but the last two years have seen maintenance in July. Progress was slowed this year when both Road Committee chairs, Paul Rantallo and Ed Dobrowski resigned from the committee. Dennis Riley became the replacement road chair for North and South Glastonbury. Meanwhile the Road Advisory group chaired by Claudette Dirkers and Walter Wunsch was designing a new Road Policy which the 2017 road maintenance was based upon.
The draft Road Policy covers ALL GLA platted roads and makes landowner safety the overriding concern. Some platted roads in North Glastonbury had received little to no maintenance for 20 years. A few non-platted and privately owned roads received yearly work. Other platted roads were completely neglected and had reverted to twin tire tracks separated by weeds.
The road work got off to a rocky start. The contract was altered without Road Committee approval and Director Richard Johnson(RJ) was allowed to allocate gravel. At the last minute, before work commenced, Church Universal and Triumphant(CUT) discovered a signed document from 1998 where the GLA had promised them lifetime free maintenance for their private roads. The church was not challenged and the GLA president, Dennis Riley, after consultation with the Legal Committee decided to grant the church free maintenance for 2017.
Before GLA President Dennis Riley could send an email to Director Richard Johnson the gravel portion of Sirius Drive, a private church owned road, was being graded and ditched. 20% of the entire North Glastonbury gravel allocation was dropped on that 500 foot private road that services a commercial venture known as Golden Age Village. The "Community Greenhouse" is also accessed via this private road. It was made clear at a recent GLA Board meeting that the greenhouse is only for CUT members; it is not available to non-church Glastonbury landowners.
The draft Road Policy covers ALL GLA platted roads and makes landowner safety the overriding concern. Some platted roads in North Glastonbury had received little to no maintenance for 20 years. A few non-platted and privately owned roads received yearly work. Other platted roads were completely neglected and had reverted to twin tire tracks separated by weeds.
The road work got off to a rocky start. The contract was altered without Road Committee approval and Director Richard Johnson(RJ) was allowed to allocate gravel. At the last minute, before work commenced, Church Universal and Triumphant(CUT) discovered a signed document from 1998 where the GLA had promised them lifetime free maintenance for their private roads. The church was not challenged and the GLA president, Dennis Riley, after consultation with the Legal Committee decided to grant the church free maintenance for 2017.
Before GLA President Dennis Riley could send an email to Director Richard Johnson the gravel portion of Sirius Drive, a private church owned road, was being graded and ditched. 20% of the entire North Glastonbury gravel allocation was dropped on that 500 foot private road that services a commercial venture known as Golden Age Village. The "Community Greenhouse" is also accessed via this private road. It was made clear at a recent GLA Board meeting that the greenhouse is only for CUT members; it is not available to non-church Glastonbury landowners.
The gravel section of Sirius Drive(CUT owned)
The paved section of Sirius Drive from the top of the incline to the four way intersection is another private, church owned road. Landowners have already poured tens of thousands of dollars into it with asphalt paving and yearly repairs. Although not scheduled for maintenance in 2017 because it is a private road, the paved section of Sirius Drive under Richard Johnson's management had expensive ditches carved down both sides of the road. The ditches will help the asphalt last longer but should private, church owned roads, be maintained with ALL landowner funds?
New ditches installed on the paved section of Sirius Drive(CUT owned)
Upper Gemini Road to Caspari Way has received substantial maintenance over the past 2 years. In 2015 upper Gemini Road was a cobble strewn Jeep trail. Just one person lived up there so presumably scarce road resources were placed elsewhere. Then the president of the North Glastonbury Teaching Center moved in and the road started to receive serious work. A base layer was provided, cobbles were graded away and just last year fresh gravel was dumped. Over a dozen snow posts with reflectors were recently installed. Many other roads in North Glastonbury, all with more traffic and residents, were left waiting for fresh gravel and reflectors. Several CUT owned properties front Caspari Way and at least one is currently for sale. The vastly improved, all season road will increase CUT property values.
Upper Gemini Road just below Caspari Way
Lower Gemini Road just off of Capricorn Drive received excellent ditch work and two double truck loads, 40 yards, of fresh gravel. The well cut ditches will help to keep the road dry and strong. Ditches help to drain surface runoff and sub-surface water from steady rain or snow melt. The ditches channel the water away from the road and help prevent road surface erosion.
Venus Way - fresh gravel and ditches
The gravel portion of Capricorn Drive received 18 double truck loads of road mix gravel and extensive ditch work. Venus Way received two loads of gravel and Mercury got one load. Both roads were also ditched, graded and compacted. Buried electrical lines hindered Venus and Mercury ditch work.
Shown below is an embankment along Capricorn Drive. A minimal ditch was cut but eventually the embankment must be moved back 2 to 3 feet and a wider, deeper ditch cut alongside the road. The embankment is already crumbling on to the road surface.
Shown below is an embankment along Capricorn Drive. A minimal ditch was cut but eventually the embankment must be moved back 2 to 3 feet and a wider, deeper ditch cut alongside the road. The embankment is already crumbling on to the road surface.
Embankment along Capricorn Drive
Aquarius Lane is one of the step-child platted roads in North Glastonbury; it is forever in need of maintenance and rarely receives any attention. 2017 saw the road being torn up by construction on CUT property. However the north end did get a little ditch work and grading.
2017 CUT road construction off of Aquarius Drive
Finally! Ditching and grading on the north end of Aquarius Drive.
Orion Way received two double truckloads of road mix gravel and extensive ditch work. Sometimes ditches cannot be dug because property owners mistakenly build structures on the road easement. Generally speaking, the GLA holds an easement that is 60 feet wide that the road sits upon. The property is still privately owned but landowners may not encroach upon the easement with structures, fences, etc. 60 feet is needed for the road, ditches and possible future expansion. Sometimes Park Electric and the phone company share a GLA easement. Electrical lines hinder ditch digging and often make it impossible.
In the below photo good ditches were cut on both sides of Orion Way. On the right side the ditch stops because of easement encroachments.
In the below photo good ditches were cut on both sides of Orion Way. On the right side the ditch stops because of easement encroachments.
Easement encroachments on Orion Way halt ditch work.
33 double truckloads, 660 cubic yards, of road mix gravel were dumped in North Glastonbury for the spring 2017 grading and graveling. The lion's share, 20% or 7 double truckloads was donated to CUT. It was dumped on the gravel section of their private road; Sirius Drive. The rest was distributed to GLA platted roads. Capricorn Drive received 18 loads, Venus Way 2 loads, Mercury Lane 1 load, Orion Way and Gemini Road - 2 loads each and Taurus Road received 1 load.
Extensive ditch work was completed but it is just a start. More and better ditches need to be dug. Per GLA Road and driveway standards landowners are responsible for installing culverts whenever a driveway or private road connects to a GLA platted road. The culverts are sorely needed to connect ditches and drain water away from the platted roads. They will help to preserve the substantial investment all landowners have in the platted road network. Many existing platted road culverts are clogged with debris and must be cleaned. That project is on the Road Committee docket for September 2017. Finally, more gravel must be dumped, graded and rolled on platted roads. Since the spring grading came in under budget perhaps the extra money can be spent this fall for more gravel and grading.
Extensive ditch work was completed but it is just a start. More and better ditches need to be dug. Per GLA Road and driveway standards landowners are responsible for installing culverts whenever a driveway or private road connects to a GLA platted road. The culverts are sorely needed to connect ditches and drain water away from the platted roads. They will help to preserve the substantial investment all landowners have in the platted road network. Many existing platted road culverts are clogged with debris and must be cleaned. That project is on the Road Committee docket for September 2017. Finally, more gravel must be dumped, graded and rolled on platted roads. Since the spring grading came in under budget perhaps the extra money can be spent this fall for more gravel and grading.
