Apparently Mr. Vaillancourt did not appreciate my accusing the Town officials of using a "Bait and Switch" technique that would result in a Customer Fraud indictment if the Town were a private business. When water was installed last year on Turner Road, the Town presented the abutting residents a proposed reimbursement schedule totaling $280,812.80 to cover the installation cost. This year when the Town Council voted to officially assess the residents, the total cost dramatically increased to $343,026.71 and then was reduced to $321,473.68 as a "concession" to the residents.
The water installation was a bid contract and was completely installed before the Town fired the Dicon Corporation. So why had the total cost of the project increased so dramatically? In fact the construction cost had not increased, instead the Town has used a different method to calculate the cost to the residents. In the original total cost calculations, the Town had agreed to pay for both the fire hydrants and the exempted portions of corner lots. Now the Town is reneging on the original deal and requires the abutting residents to pay for these items. The Town even suggested in one calculation that the abutting residents should pay for the water line abutting the Gaudet Middle School!
