Grassy Hill Road: When Will It Reopen?

Fire Chief Janet Morgan is worried after the

Morgan estimated that with the , it will take an extra 20 minutes for fire trucks to get to the homes on Grassy Hill Road and the nearby Owl Ridge and Laurel Ridge subdivisions, First Selectman Gerald 'Jerry' Stomski said.

. Crews will begin installing a temporary bridge loaned from the state Department of Transportation today: Thursday, August 23, Stomski said.

"I expect it to be opened by Saturday," he said.

A Blessing in Disguise

Stomski said that if the crumbling of the culvert had to occur, he is happy this happened over the summer.

"It's a blessing in disguise, that it wasn't a situation with a school bus and a bunch of kids," he said. ________________________________________________________________________________________

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Estimated Costs of Repair

At a Wednesday, August 22, special Board of Selectmen meeting, Stomski relayed the estimated costs of repair:

• Moving of wires by CL&P: Approximately $2,500
• Cost of bridge replacement and assorted engineering costs: Approximately $200,000

"The DOT loaned us the [temporary] bridge," said Stomski. "There's no cost for that but there are engineering costs."

The funds will come out of the 2012-13 capital roads fund, he said.

"This crossing was on our radar already," said Stomski. "We started some beginning engineering estimates on that and it was around $200,000 and we think that's where we're going to be at."

At the special Board of Selectmen meeting, he and Selectman Barbara Perkinson approved a motion authorizing Stomski to appropriate funds associated with the temporary bridge and cross culvert reconstruction. Selectman George Hale was not in attendance.

"The reason why we asked for this meeting is the normal protocol for the issuance of contracts is through the Board of Selectmen," he said. "Because of the emergency situation, we are looking to waive those procedures."