Pot hole season is upon us......so what to do about them?


The Massachusetts Department of Transportation said there are two ways to repair a pothole: temporary cold patch, which is used in the colder temperatures in the winter, and a hot asphalt mix, which is applied at higher temperature as a long-term fix.
"Pothole season" lasts from the end of winter into spring, and the potholes seem to have arrived a bit early this year.

MassDOT has reported this has been an unusual year in terms of pothole repairs, specifically along bridges.

MassDOT brought in its bridge deck repair contractor in early February, as opposed to late March or early April, said Amanda Richard, deputy press secretary for MassDOT. In the last three to four weeks, Ms. Richard said MassDOT has addressed 20 locations in need of repair and has an ongoing list.


If anyone takes the time to look, they will find that many state Departments of Transportation, civil engineers, contractors, Asphalt industry entities and American Department of Public Works Association all seem to say the same thing, cold patch is temporary (a band aid fix) and hot asphalt is a more permanent fix. The information is here, the information is out there along with the excuses and facts. Bring the horse to water but he only drinks if he wants to. So now ponder this; a new sidewalk snow blower cost $14,000.00, a lot of money but Templeton along with many other communities use to use plows to clear sidewalks and snow plows are much cheaper to buy than snow blowers so why the switch if snow plows worked and were cheaper to use? Somewhere there is the community that looked at a new idea, a different idea and presumably did some home work to make a decision to try a more expensive method of using a snow blower rather than a snow plow to clear side walks. who was the first? I have no idea because I have not looked, yet. Since someone was first and since many communities now use a snow blower rather than a snow plow to clear side walks, I think it is safe to say that it was a new idea, a different approach that was tried and apparently works. So why would not the same approach be feasible and worth a try? While that is pondered, think about this one; Templeton highway wants to spend $40,000.00 on a stainless steel sander body (of some kind) I know a standard V box SS spreader box that can be put into any dump truck costs in the $14,000.00 to $18,000.00 range, I have to guess that this 40 grand item is a combination body, that if bought would surely out last any vehicle the Templeton highway dept. currently owns. Especially with the highway dept. saying to anyone who will listen that all of their trucks are worn out and too old and taking way too much $$$ to keep running. So why spend all that money on that style of body to put on one of those old worn out trucks? Kind of like buying a brand new wagon to hitch up a horse that is one step from the glue factory. Kind of reminds me of a song, you can't ride in my red wagon, the front seat is broken and the axles draggin'. With the revelation that a frame on a town vehicle snapped and is now junk, there is clearly a need to get "new " equipment and for now, the surplus program may be the way to go. Which ever way it goes, one thing is clear, all of this is not on the department as taxpayers and voters have to take some of the heat as there has to be some investment in the town just as they do in their own homes. I think one way to demonstrate the need would be to line up the equipment and call in State Police DOT inspectors to look at the equipment and ask them to certify what is road worthy and what needs to be parked. It may be time to abandon the bailing wire approach and park it all. If it is worn out as bad as been portrayed (I have been hearing this since 2003) but the equipment keeps going up and down the road, that to me creates a problem; if it is that bad, how or why is it still going down the road? If a truck frame breaks while going down the road with a load in it, that endangers the driver and the motoring public and that in my opinion is an irresponsible act traced right back to who is in charge! To be sure, these types of situations happen with private contractors all the time, just speak with any of the State Police officers who do the DOT work. So perhaps Dave Smart can put a list of the highway equipment along with age, miles, hours and maybe a dollar figure and break down for maintenance to include what is normal regular maintenance like wipers, grease, oil, filters, lights brakes and the like and what has been out of the ordinary since there was a figure of 100 K mentioned at a selectmen meeting. Maybe have an open house where anyone who wishes can get an up close look at the present equipment. How old is the road grader, when was it bought, what has broken on it in say the past 10 years, how was it broken and what did the repairs cost? I believe things like that would enlighten everyone including the BOS. Have some informational meetings much like we had for the school budget back in 2013 and much like was done with the 500K short fall. More needs to be done and said than we do the best with what we have because that clearly has not worked.


Jeff bennett