Attachments

20260619-103508-ce2-n-wtc touisset roads 6-9-26.pdf

The roads in the Touisset section of town require immediate attention, one resident there told the council at its June meeting.

Tim White, a member of the planning board who are ran for council at the 2024 election, spoke before the body about the issue, stressing the need for the matter to be addressed in his enclave.

White referred to a piece of correspondence (see attachment) he sent to the members. In it, he wrote in part, "The time has come to set aside old animosities and move forward with a plan dedicating a reasonable amount of funding to Touisset road maintenance and known hazards like tree removal.

"Many Touisset residents pay disproportionally high property taxes given the lack of services rendered for those taxes. Being a small town, I realize Warren has a limited taxation base so prioritization is key.

"Apparently the roads in Touisset are not a priority. While individual residents in the Historic District get special signage to prevent illegal parking and new blue street signs go up around town, Barton (Avenue) and Touisset Road fall farther and farther into disrepair."

White also informed the council of a forum he had with interim Department of Public Works Director Mary Hunt on the topic. He said he and Hunt "had a great meeting, and part of the problem is moving forward rather than dwelling on past experiences we've had with DPW," adding "I'm looking forward to a better future after meeting with Mary."

"And I understand that 70 potholes, or something like that, were filled on Long Lane, Barton and Touisset Road, but it's not a favor to fill those potholes. We need them done. I mean, things this year, some of the roads, like Barton, is narrow enough," he said.

Residents note the especially narrow streets in Touisset make traversing them quite difficult even under the best conditions. The lack of shoulders can be hazardous for just two regular sized cars, never mind when larger, delivery trucks are present.


White continued, "And when vehicles are traveling down the middle in both directions to avoid the worst curbs or edges, I don't know if anybody took me up on my offer to just drive on out and have a look. But I challenge you to stay in your lane and see what you think. Do you want to subject your vehicle to that every day with every trip in and out of town?

"We don't have options... I guess we could go around all the way through Swansea, but that's not the point. And in the past when I brought these up I got endless excuses of why the roads are that way, but they are that way. Here we are."

White included in his letter citation of figures taken from a road condition survey, the Pavement Management Program, conducted throughout the town in 2022 and made public the following year to bolster his point. He also wrote about other issues that have concerns in the neighborhood such as the unfinished repair of a drainage culvert on Maple Road, a malfunctioning streetlight at Maple and Privet Drive and the need to remove several dead trees abutting streets.

During his oral testimony, White said he finally decided to approach the body directly because he's been told in the past by Brian Wheeler, the DPW director who is currently out on military leave, it was the council that set the priorities on what roads to repair.

Of conversations with Wheeler and the perspective of DPW, he continued, "They're glad to do it, but the money's got to be set aside and allocated. We need a plan moving forward. Let's try to do one a year or just the worst spot a year. It's a little out of hand right now. Someone asked someone to paint some spots, and then the whole road got painted, and everyone thought the whole thing was getting done. And I think a little asphalt would go a long way."

In response, Councilor Louis Rego lauded the efforts of Hunt in her temporary role and expressed optimism the matter would be resolved.

"Mary was heaven sent. She's good, and I know she's going to address it," said Rego. "We talked about different ways of doing it. We are limited as far as resources, but instead of patches, maybe we could do some short grinding and take care of the problems, because patches, they don't even last for so long.

"So I think that we're on the right track, but I really thank you for bringing this up. But let me just say this, in your letter, we don't try to prioritize, but we prioritize the whole community, sometimes with limited resources. And I want to get a lot of things done in town, but I also realize that we're limited how many people we have, summer and stuff, but I think Mary's going to get it done for you."

White sought to clarify his use of the word "prioritize," saying, "I don't mean that Touisset or any area of town should be prioritized over anybody else. This is based on the road report from the inspections that were done in 2022. I believe the report was issued in 2023 that lists Barton as one of the three worst roads in Warren behind Serpentine, and maybe a couple others. And I don't know how many of those have been repaired to date, but I don't know what good the report did that prioritized the roads, and showed the roads that need the most attention, if none of them were addressed."

Council Vice President Keri Cronin said she and her peers have been constrained, especially in recent years, by the lack of available funding in the town coffers.

"It comes down to dollars and cents, and we do our very best," said Cronin. "There is not a penny left unspent at the end of a budget cycle. And I encourage you and anybody here in the room and anybody who's listening to come and participate during the budget process, because it is a public transparent process where we welcome people to come forward when we're addressing the different departments. And during the DPW discussion, if you feel like you'd like to see more money put into DPW, and we can find it, we would."

Cronin then brought up a recent, and likely costly, development in the department, noting a compactor at its Birch Swamp Road facility is not currently functioning and will probably have to be replaced.

"It's unfathomable to really figure out how we're going to pay for that," Cronin said of the compactor issue. "And that's going to impact the entire town. And it's really, it's a heavy weight that we bear up here."

Cronin, appearing to reference what White wrote in his letter, added, "I truly appreciate you bringing this forward, and pointing these things out. I'm sure many of the people in Touisset appreciate it, too. But I completely find false the fact that there's any measure of favoritism shown to any one part of town. It's just, we're doing our best, and we appreciate that you've come forward and put this in writing. So I hope you will see better communication going forward because we can't look back."

During and after the meeting, White said he was attempting to engage the council cordially, rather than seeming to be confrontational.

"I did my absolute best to approach this issue with an olive branch rather than a pitch fork, but not everyone in Touisset is so inclined," White added after the session in an email response once again highlighting his points of view. "Acknowledging the issues noted above and formulating a plan to address those issues will facilitate ongoing civil dialogue between residents of Touisset and the town council. This is far from being about favoritism, this is simply about maintaining some minimum standard for road conditions."