Board of Aldermen — 4/11/17 Page 16
previous administration’s plan because we didn’t have that information. Thank you, Alderman Cookson for
bringing that point up. | think that’s very important.
Alderman Dowd
There was another part of Tinker Road that failed and they had to dig it up and pave it right, not just skim coat
it. It’s last just fine. When they skim coat, it is very narrow; just covering up potholes and dents. The plows
dig it up. If you do it correctly, it will last.
Alderman Lopez
| just want to suggest to the Mayor that this is a large project, and all of the city is probably concerned about
when is my road getting paved, what is the reasoning behind how this done. If we have a new public relations
person at the department of public works, | think this is an ideal role for them. | personally was in favor when |
heard about it because | think the public could use a lot more support in learning how to deal with snow
emergencies or when roads are being plowed. | think this is in the same vein. It is important for the public to
know how the roads are being prioritized and when they can expect them to be fixed.
Alderman Cookson
Going back to some of Alderman Siegel’s and Alderman Dowd’s comments, | just wanted to raise the question
of who actually signs off on the roads with regards to the quality or the quality of the material that is used. For
example if we do use a skim coat, what quality assurance do we go through to confirm that material is of high
quality and it will last?
Alderman Deane
The area that | think Alderman Dowd was referred to that failed was mill and fill. They come and take a
machine that is carved by teeth and they come down and grind those edges and then they fill it with asphalt
afterwards. We have specifications through engineering. Those specs are given to whoever we buy our
asphalt from. That’s the way the asphalt is mixed.
The other thing about the program is it’s going to be a massive program. You have utilities in the street. We
have to get everybody on board so when we go in and put a plan in place, we’ve got to make sure that
Pennichuck and the gas company and everybody else in the roadway is well aware of our intentions. When
we go out and start paving, any new services or water lines, those things, will be taken care of. The sewer
lines will be cameraed, the drain lines will be cameraed to make sure there is no failure in place before we
pave. There’s a plan in place on how they would move forward and in with what areas of town they would start
with. | know the plan doesn’t include going in to the east side of town and totally taking over and paving every
road down there. That’s not going to happen because it wouldn’t be conducive to quality of life. People
wouldn’t be able to deal with that. There is a plan in place. | would assume and | would imagine the mayor is
going to have plenty of public input sessions, public knowledge sessions where he will host what is going to
happen, what has happened in the past when we go into neighborhoods to do work. All the CSO work we’ve
done, they’ve had neighborhood meetings so everybody knew what was going on and what to expect, how
long the project was going to last and things of that nature. All of that is in the pipeline and it’s just ready to be
funded.
Alderman Lopez
| didn’t mean any over simplification of the process involved. There’s a lot of knowledge and experience on
this Board. Most of the aldermen here really know what they are talking about because they have been doing
this for years. Even in public comment, there’s a lot of knowledge being delivered. A lot of Nashuans don’t
necessarily sit down and read that or have that. They may think there is a road guy just driving around fixing
roads. They may not know that all that elaborate work has to go into it. There’s a lot of expertise going into
this.
