The Press., 1921-03-10
STAFFORD SPRINGS
Borough Meeting to Take Action 0i
 Paving Main Street .


 At the regular meeting of the cour of burgesses, which was held lasI
 Thursday night, the committee ap pointed to investigate the proposition of the paving of Main street, made its report.
 The court of burgesses voted tC accept this report and to put the mat. I ter up before the voters of the bOr' ough at the borough meeting which is to te held next Tuesday, at 7.3O. p. m. at borough hall.
 The burgesses wanted. to have this matter presented in such a form that the voters would have an opportunity l to discuss the matter before the meet ing and it was therefore voted that the report of this committee should be printed in full in The Press. This report covers the facts in the case, but | there are one or two points to be considered which do not appear there in. The committee and the burgesses feel that if a road is to be put in at all that it would be economy in the long run for the borough to spend a little more money in the first cost and secure a road which will have a longer life and smaller maintainance charges. This was the governing reason in the selection of the type of road which the committee recOm- mends. The question of the probable cost of the construction of the road this year and next was taken up by the committee and MT. Bennett, the state highway commissioner, told the committee that in his judgment such work could he contracted for between now and June at a lower cost than it could be later, as, it is his opinion that the cost of this kind of work, owing to the amount of it that is to be done in various parts of the coun- try, is going to increase rather than decrease. Another matter which does not appear in the report is the ques- tion as to whether or not the borough should take steps to have the Connect icut Company stop it's trolleys at the foot of Church street rather than have them run down to the post office. The committee feels that this is a question which concerns the con- yenience of-the voters and should be put up to them. There is no doubt but that if the trolleys are stopped at the foot of Church street, it will greatly improve Main street and lower the maintafnance charges on any type of pavement that is put in, because the T. type rails which are used make it impossible to lay the pavement against the inside of the rail and a very considerable wear and tear re- suits. Inasmuch as the borough can not issue bonds under it's present charter, and it is impossible to se- cure the necessary amendments in time if the road is voted, it will be necessary to make arrangements for the lorough to torrow money until such time as the legal steps can he taken to secure the right to issue i onds.
 The following is the report of the committee appointed at the regular January meeting of the court of tur- gesses to investigate the paving of Main street: After it's appointment, your committee went over in gen. eraI way the proposition before it and came to the following conclu- sionS:
 1. That the area to be paved should extend from the cross walk in front of Anthony Adams store to and join with the end of the pavement on West Main street, including the en- tire area known as Haymarket Square.
 2. That before a pavement was laid the sewers and water pipes un- der the area to be covered should be put in first class condition.
 It was found that the sewers un- der the area to be paved are in good condition and of ample size to take care of future requirements. From Henry Wise, local representative of the Stafford Springs Aqueduct Com pany, your committee has secured i'm formation that before a pavement is laid, the company will put the pipes in first class condition and make the necessary changes, such as bring ing the cut-Offs inside the curb line. personal conference was secured with J. c. Bennett, state highway com missioner, and the entire matter gone over with him. Through the courtesy of MT. Bennett, engineers were sent to Stafford, and an accurate survey of the area to be paved made and, with this data before him MT. Bennett made recommendations which are en- bodied below. It was found that the area contained approximately 5000 sq. yards, or within 275 sq. yards as much pavement as is contained in a mile of l6 foot state highway. The kinds of pavements suggested by MT. Bennett as possible, together with his esti- mate of cost, are as follows. In mak- ing these estimates the necessary grading and the curb to be reset are considered as we'll as the cost of the pavement itself:
 l. Concrete pavement, average depth inches, $34,366.25.
 2. Three Inch Asphalt over 6 inch concrete Base, $43,36625.
 3. Vitrified Brick over inch con- crete base, $47,866.25
 4. Granite Block over inch con- crete base, $65, ,866.25
 5. Asphalt Block over inch con- crete base, $46,O66.25.
 Of the first type, the concrete pave ment, MT. Bennett recommends against it's use on the ground that it is not suitable for Main street pave ment on account of its glare and dust ing: Your committee concurs in this and also recommends against it on the ground that it will be hard on horse drawn traffic on the west end of the street where there is consider able grade. AS to the fifth type of pavement, the asphalt block type, it has not had a sufficient tryout in this state to warrant it's use. As to the fourth type, the granite block, your committee recommend against its use on account of the high cost. AS to the second type, sheet asphalt, your committee recommends against It's use on account of it's high cost compared to it's life, which MT. Ben nett puts at twelve years. Your com