14-048 Code Vt. R. 14-050-048-X - CLASS 2 TOWN HIGHWAY CLASS 2 REHABILITATION PROGRAM
To rehabilitate certain class 2 municipal highways in accordance with the provisions of 19 V.S.A. Section 306(h), utilizing a combination of state and municipal funds. The intent of this program is to provide grants to municipalities for the rehabilitation of existing class 2 roads which are also rural major collectors, as defined in these rules, to improve the function and extend the useful service life of these highways to the maximum extent practicable.
Municipalities may apply for grants to perform roadway improvements. Any municipality receiving a grant award is then responsible to perform all actual work on a project, including scoping, design, obtaining permits, and construction.
Eligible activities include improvements to roadway conditions, within or immediately adjacent to the existing footprint of the roadway, at an increased level of treatment over that which can be obtained via the class 2 paving program. Projects are limited to roadway improvements only, and do not include ancillary activities such as water, sewer, electricity, or other utility improvements.
ADT Annual Average Daily Traffic
AOT Vermont Agency of Transportation
Approved grant agreement amount
The allotment is the amount as specified in section 13 of the grant agreement signed by the municipality and the Secretary of Transportation or designee.
Class 2 town highway
A town highway which has been selected by the legislative body and AOT as one of the most important highways in a municipality, generally with the purpose of securing trunk lines of improved highways from town to town and to places which by their nature have more than a normal amount of traffic ( 19 V.S.A. Section 302(a)(2)) .
District Transportation Administrator
The person in charge of an Agency of Transportation Maintenance District (abbreviated DTA).
Legislative body
The elected or appointed board authorized to make transactions for the Municipality.
RPC Outside of Chittenden County, the regional planning commission which contains a given municipality. Within Chittenden County, the Chittenden County Metropolitan Planning Organization.
Rural major collector
A road which has been designated by the Federal Highway Administration and AOT as serving or linking traffic generators of intra or inter county importance which are not served by road systems of higher classification.
Municipality A Town, City or Incorporated Village.
Project Work to be done according to approved plans and specifications in accordance with a written agreement signed and agreed to by the proper authorities involved.
Secretary The appointed head of the Agency of Transportation.
Sufficiency rating
A numerical system used by AOT for comparative evaluation of different sections of highway.
State funds only (no Federal funds) will be used to provide grants to municipalities.
Grant eligibility will be limited to class 2 town highways which are also rural major collectors, having a sufficiency rating of 50 or less and an ADT of 400 or more. In order to assure consistency and comparability between different roadway segments, sufficiency ratings and ADTs will be taken from the most recent AOT report on sufficiency ratings of major collector class 2 town highways. AOT will make an updated report available by March, 1999.
The maximum grant will be at the rate of $ 150,000 of state funds per mile of project. State funding liability will be strictly limited to this amount. Cost overruns or additional costs will be the sole responsibility of the municipality.
When necessary, grants may be awarded in two phases. The first phase will consist of project scoping, design, and obtaining permits. The second phase will consist of project construction.
Each project phase must be completed within 24 months of grant award. Municipalities will not be eligible for reimbursement for projects which are not completed within the 24 month time period.
Selection criteria will include but may not be limited to:
* Overall condition of the roadway and need for project
* Reasonableness of proposed activity and overall project cost
* Extent to which the proposed activity improves the function and extends the useful life of the roadway
* Whether a municipality has been awarded previous grants in this program
* Whether or not projects can be constructed during the current season, including receipt of all necessary permits
Municipalities will prepare and submit an application to the RPC on an annual basis. AOT will establish an annual deadline for applications, and notify municipalities of the date.
The application must be submitted using a form provided by AOT, defining the work proposed. If a grant is awarded, the application form will become an integral part of the agreement between AOT and the municipality, and will define the responsibilities of the municipality and AOT in seeing the project through to completion. A separate application form must be used for each proposed project.
The RPC will review the application form for completeness, assess the overall reasonableness of the application in light of the selection criteria, and select and prioritize candidate project(s) to be funded.
Candidate projects will be passed to a review committee appointed by the Secretary. This review committee will contain five members: two from the AOT maintenance division, and one each from the budget office, technical services division, and policy and planning division. The review committee will review the entire pool of applications submitted by the RPCs, assess the applications in light of the selection criteria and available funding, and make recommendations to the Secretary about grant awards.
Over time, the review committee will attempt to provide equitable distribution of funds throughout the state.
The purpose of project scoping is to identify alternative treatments for a proposed project, discuss the merits of different alternatives, and choose a preferred treatment. Because of the nature of this program, a greatly simplified version of the AOT project scoping process may be used.
The simplified scoping process for this program shall include four steps:
Scoping is an eligible project cost.
The Municipality will be responsible for consulting with all permitting entities as necessary, and obtaining all permits and other clearances necessary to construct the project, and for complying with permit conditions.
The need for and the extent of plans and specifications will be determined by the DTA in consultation with local officials and based on the results of the scoping process. Any necessary plans and specifications resulting from this process will be developed by the municipalities using qualified engineers or engineering firms.
Generally recognized design and construction standards shall be used.
AOT reserves the right to review these documents prior to the start of any construction.
AOT must be satisfied that the municipality's arrangements for project inspection are adequate.
Eligible project costs include the following:
* Preliminary engineering (scoping, development of plans, and obtaining permits).
* Construction.
* Construction inspection.
The Municipality will be reimbursed up to 2/3 of actual project cost, not to exceed the limit of the approved grant.
Payment will be made after acceptance of the completed project phase by AOT.
The handling, treatment and disposal of petroleum contaminated soils and other hazardous material contamination in existence prior to construction will be the sole responsibility of the Municipality, and is not an eligible project cost.
Each year of the program will begin a new application and selection process.
Applications from previous years may be updated as necessary and resubmitted.
The program administrator will notify the DTA of the Secretary's final approval of each submittal. The DTA will notify the affected municipality.
The program administrator will develop a grant agreement for each awarded project in cooperation with the municipality and the DTA.
Municipalities receiving grants will develop or finalize any plans needed and make arrangements for project inspection and review to the satisfaction of the DTA prior to beginning construction.
Municipalities will notify the DTA at least one week prior to the beginning of construction, and comply with other permit conditions regarding notice, as necessary.
Work must be performed as designed and in compliance with all permit requirements.
Payment to the municipality of the state's share, not to exceed the limit of the approved grant, will be made only after final inspection and approval of the project by the DTA. Progress payments are permitted (subject to appropriation status) providing the DTA has given prior authorization.
Claims for payment not to exceed the agreement amount will be submitted by the municipality to the district on forms provided by the district. They shall either be accompanied by copies of all documents needed to identify actual costs paid by the town, or if reviewed by the DTA or his/her designee at the municipal offices, contain a statement by the DTA or his/her designee that all cost have been substantiated by municipal records.
Copies of any payments/credits (TA65 with front and back completed and data entry sheet) shall be sent to AOT Financial Services through the program administrator in AOT Budget and Legislative Relations.
Notes
State regulations are updated quarterly; we currently have two versions available. Below is a comparison between our most recent version and the prior quarterly release. More comparison features will be added as we have more versions to compare.