Politics & Government

Audit Shows Brookhaven Paving Oversight Up to Grade

"The Town has good controls and monitoring over asphalt road-surfacing projects and the payment of prevailing wages," the report notes.

A state audit released last month by Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli found that oversight of asphalt work in Brookhaven gets a green light.

As part of a wider audit that included 10 towns, DiNapoli announced on Thursday that Brookhaven was just one of two towns – including Islip – to check the quality of the asphalt laid on site, and in one instance during the projects reviewed, resulted in a re-paved road that was made with sub-grade material by a contractor.

"The Town has good controls and monitoring over asphalt road-surfacing projects and the payment of prevailing wages," the report notes. 

Three Brookhaven projects were reviewed by the comptroller's office, totaling over 17,000 tons at a total of $1.3 million.

"Positively, we found that the tonnage and named product from the delivery tickets matched the bid prices and invoiced amounts charged to the Town."

Of the 10 towns audited, four did not even have language in their contracts that allowed them to check asphalt material on-site. 

“Town officials need to put safeguards in place to ensure public funds are being used prudently," DiNapoli said. "Overall, the towns in our audit were managing road projects well but some improvements are needed.” 

In one instance, the audit notes, some of the paved roads were "noticeably not acceptable." Spot sample testing of material followed, with 15 of 44 samples failing to make the grade. The contractor re-paved the road with the agreed-upon material at no cost to the town. In the two other projects tested, 17 spot tests all passed the mark.


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