Road Commission

The Wendell Road Commission is a three-member Board with one member up for election each year. The Commission supervises the operation of the Wendell Road Crew and the Wendell Recycling and Transfer Station (WRATS). The Commission meets at the Wendell highway barn the 1st and 3rd Tuesday of each month at 6:30 PM. In 2018 Michael Gifford was re-elected to the Commission and was re-elected Chairman. Other members are Phil Delorey and Wayne Leonard. Joy Gorzocoski has served as Clerk to the Commission for several years.

The WRATS has two new employees this year who have made a great effort in bringing about changes in the services provided at the WRATS. Robert (Robbie) Chiodo and Ray Stone have each worked closely with the Wendell residents in efforts to improve the management of recycling. They have created a new management plan for the operation at WRATS where they are each co-supervisors, and they have developed new procedures that make the WRATS run much more efficiently. Residents will note the improvements to the traffic flow, the renovated office, updated signage and other improvements to the operation. Robbie and Ray should be appreciated for taking on a tough job and making it run smoothly.

This year the Wendell Depot Bridge was replaced following more than two years of planning and design work. The work was originally designed by Stantec, Inc., and was taken over for construction supervision by an association of professionals, including Franklin County Council of Government, for procuring services, Tighe & Bond Engineers, for construction engineering, and Sara Campbell, P.E., for construction oversight. The total cost for services associated with the bridge design and construction was $125K, with construction completed by Renaud Bros. for a cost of $657K. The Bridge was replaced with funding from a $450K grant from the MA Small Bridges Program and funds from the MassDOT Chapter 90 program.

Other projects completed this year included:

Repaving on Montague Road
Repaving on Lockes Village Road
Replacement of culverts on Lockes Village Road
Roadside regrading on several roads under guardrails for improved drainage
Roadside clearing and general maintenance of roadways and equipment
Engineering on four culverts in need of replacement: Mormon Hollow Road, intersection of New Salem Road and Morse Village Road, two culverts on Cooleyville Road

The Town had to purchase a new front-end loader this year the 20-year old Case loader became unreliable and too expensive to maintain. A new Volvo loader purchase has included a trade-in on the old loader, with a net cost to the Town of $135K. The Town also purchased a new pickup truck this year. The pickup will help the Road Crew get into the smaller areas that need clearing and will save on wear and tear on the larger trucks.

The Highway Crew includes Rich Wilder, Supervisor, Allen Frost and Jon Bowers. The Road Commission feels very strongly that the crew is very diligent and conscientious in the performance of their duties, including untold hours of continuous snowplowing during the worst conditions.

Respectfully submitted,

Wendell Road Commissioners

Michael Gifford, Chair

Phil Delorey

Wayne Leonard

The Wendell Road Commission is made up of three members.  The Road Commission oversees the operation of the Highway Department and the WRATS.

The road commissioners are responsible for creating budgets for both departments.

It should be noted that if there is ever a problem with the roads, please contact the Highway Department at 978-544-3735.