Firms perform duplicate work for Beacon Falls road project

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BEACON FALLS — Two engineering companies performed duplicate work last year to prepare for planned repairs to Beacon Valley Road.

The project includes reclaiming and repaving the road from Beacon Valley Bridge to the Naugatuck town line and replacing catch basins as needed. The town is paying for the project with $500,000 from a Small Town Economic Assistance Program (STEAP) grant that was initially allocated for work to West Road.

Selectman Christopher Bielik, who was first selectman until First Selectman Gerard Smith was sworn in in mid-November, said the town hired DeCarlo & Doll to do pre-design engineering work for the West Road project. Nafis & Young was hired to assist with the workload, he said.

James Galligan of Nafis and Young was the town’s engineer until last month.

Instead of fixing West Road, town officials decided to put the grant money toward work on Beacon Valley Road.

“My intention was to bring that arrangement work to have DeCarlo & Doll work hand in hand with Nafis & Young,” Bielik said. “There was confusion in communication between the two engineering firms.”

Bielik said the work was done around election time last year, which made things busier and added to the miscommunication.

Both firms submitted bills to the town last fall for pre-engineering work on the same section of the road from the bridge to the Beacon Hill Common condominiums. Both companies conducted their work last October and November and sent their bills at the end of November.

Smith said he put a hold on the project after discovering the companies performed the same work.

DeCarlo & Doll billed the town $13,240.80, and Nafis and Young billed the town $20,136.88 for almost the same exact work.

The town has already paid $17,000 to Nafis and Young. Smith said the town will pay both engineering firms in full.

DeCarlo & Doll is finishing the work it started, Smith said. Milone & MacBroom, the town’s new engineering firm, is completing the pre-engineering work, he said.

The town still has to go out to bid for the repairs to Beacon Valley Road, and officials are hoping to start the project in the spring.

2 COMMENTS

  1. “Bielik said the work was done around election time last year, which made things busier and added to the miscommunication.”

    Poor excuse that the election got in the way of running the town. While you are elected, you are also paid to perform the elected position, not campaign. I’m not happy to see that my tax dollars were wasted, but I am happy to see that the townspeople spoke their mind at the ballot box in November.

    The old rule of thumb is you break it, you buy it. Since Bielik wasn’t paying attention, and was focusing his time on personal achievements (the election) he should write a check to cover one of the firms invoices.

    An audit should be initiated to determine how many other projects, tasks, complaints Bielik dropped the ball on.