By JOSEPH FITZGERALD

NORTH SMITHFIELD — Developer Vincent Mesolella has submitted a plan of action showing the town how he plans to rectify substandard road conditions within the LIZ Development residential subdivision.

Town Planner Michael Phillips confirmed last week that a draft of the plan has been submitted on behalf of Mesolella by Pare Engineering. The plan has been turned over to the Planning Board for review and consideration. A final plan is expected to be reviewed by the planners at their meeting Sept. 4.
Mesolella and the Planning Board agreed in June that the developer would provide to the board a date for completion of a roadway design plan as well as a tentative date for when the contractor can be on site to begin the work.
Mesolella, an investor in the LIZ Development, was under the gun to provide that information or face having planners pull the development’s nearly $1 million performance bond over longstanding drainage problems in the Elizabeth Avenue subdivision.
The sides had gone back and forth over longstanding issues surrounding substandard road conditions, which have angered residents both in the subdivision and surrounding neighborhood — including Saranac Street — since the first phase of the project was started four years ago.
Town officials had ordered Mesolella to fix the problems, which were supposed to be rectified by May 1.
In early June, Mesolella was given a final deadline to submit a plan to the town, but town officials said he balked at some of the conditions imposed by the town in a letter sent to him. That prompted the Town Council to ask the Planning Board to start the process of calling in the bond posted for Phase II of the development so that the town can hire a contractor to complete the work.
When Mesollela started the project, he essentially excavated existing streets to install infrastructure for the new project, work that soon became a nightmare, according to some residents.
The problem now is the road conditions that exist since it was paved by the developer last October. According to the town’s engineering consultant, Richard Hencler, catch basins don’t take water and sections of streets puddle up; the grade is higher than the road around some catch basins; the grading in many areas is improperly pitched; there is no bituminous asphalt on some manholes; pavement is breaking away from the existing roadway; and there are depressions near many manholes. Similar problems were identified in a report submitted to the town by DPW Director Ray Pendergast.
In February, Mesolella met with members of the Town Council and other town officials and was shown photos of the road paving, manhole covers, drainage areas and the substandard condition of the road itself. At that meeting Mesolella said he would get a design from Pare Engineering and present it to the Planning Board for review. That never happened, which prompted the town to begin considering pulling the bond.
Mesolella’s attorney, Michael Kelly, had said the reason Mesolella has not acted on the request initially is because Mesolella believes the town is partly responsible for the problem and that he is owed money as a result of agreement that was struck between the town and Mesolella back in 2003.
“The town assured us that it would be responsible for preparing the roadbeds (in the subdivision), including drainage and grading, before it was paved. Our position is that merely clearing brush and vegetation was not adequate roadbed preparation and that the town was obligated to do some grading. So, if the town didn’t do what it was supposed to do, and we did it all, then the town saved money and therefore Mr. Mesolella should recieve a credit.”
Both sides eventually agreed that calling in the developer’s bond would be a costly and lengthy process and with Mesolella willing to take action and provide a plan to fix the problems, the planners voted to give him a reprieve.