By Rebecca Rider

rebecca.rider@salisburypost.com

SPENCER — The Spencer Board of Aldermen on Tuesday voted to set up a contingency fund for an ongoing stormwater project.

The project, which would upfit stormwater drains and other features along Fourth Street, is largely funded by the state. But after crews bored holes in the asphalt along the street to see what was underneath, Town Manager Reid Walters worried that the project might go over budget.

The result of the core samples were a solid foot of concrete, aggregate and asphalt. Seven other core samples taken along Fourth Street revealed similar results.

Walters recommended that the board set aside $50,000 in a contingency fund, just in case the project goes over its roughly $400,000 budget.

“Does that $50,000 give us some cushion there?” Alderman Kevin Jones asked.

Walters said it should but there is always a chance it will go over budget and the $50,000 contingency fund.

“You don’t know what you’re going to get until you open everything up,” he said.

Jones asked whether the town could set aside the money but not use it or if the board could wait until it knows the exact cost before ponying up funds.

That’s possible, Walters told him, but it would slow the project down. And it is possible that Spencer’s Powell Bill funds could be used to offset some of the costs.

“There’s going to be some specific conversations regarding the utilization of Powell Bill funds,” he said. “But those conversations haven’t happened yet.”

Walters recommended approving the contingency fund.

“It’s going to potentially be a half-million-dollar project that we’ll have spent $50,000 on,” he told the board.

The board voted unanimously to set aside $50,000 in a contingency fund.

“Hope that won’t slow us down,” Mayor Jim Gobbel said of the core sample. “Keep moving forward.”

In other business, the board:

• Voted to approve a road closure for the Holiday Caravan. From 1:45 to 5 p.m. Nov. 22, Salisbury Avenue will be closed between Jefferson Street and Eighth Street.
• Was reminded that town’s mulch giveaway is 7 to 10 a.m. Saturday. Three loads are allowed per residence. There is a $10 fee if residents want the mulch delivered.

Contact reporter Rebecca Rider at 704-797-4264.