By Ann Wood

HEBRON—For the first time in almost a decade, the town of Hebron has broken ground on a municipal building. This time around, it’s not fit for humans. Rather, it’s a 50-by-100-foot concrete shed for sand and salt.

The excavation for the sand and salt shed at 13 Depot Circle, by the town garage, has been done, Selectmen Chair Richard Deans reported on Monday. K-Y Construction is expected to complete the project within 90 days.

“Now this week they had some materials show up. Now they can start with their footing forms,” he said, adding that the eight-foot or 10-foot wide footings are necessary to withstand the weight of the 17-foot concrete building. The floor, however, will be asphalt. “It makes more sense to put asphalt down because it doesn’t react with salt the way concrete does,” he added.

The shed is being built by state mandate. Deans said years ago, the state said that the town needed to shelter its salt because it is located in an area in which there are wells. Because the state wanted it to happen, it agreed to reimburse the town 51-percent of approved construction costs, he said.

“Since we landed in priority three [rather than priority one], it wasn’t critical to do it until the state had funds,” Deans said, adding that the town expects to get back $164,000 from the state.

The state projected the town needed a building that would hold 2,640 cubic yards of material, but town officials decided it should hold more to properly cover the 32 miles of road that exists in Hebron.

“The building that we decided to construct we built a little bigger for more capacity,” Deans said, adding that the shed will hold up to 3,000 cubic yards. That means it will cost the town $335,000 (or $171,000 after it receives the grant) rather than the state-projected $264,000, but the selectmen feel it’s worth it.

awood@advertiserdemocrat.com