CARMEL – Concerned that issues about one couple’s culvert will continue to resurface, Carmel selectmen voted Monday to use recycled asphalt to pave the way to a resolution.

The decision fell short of the replacement or extension of the culvert that Fuller Road residents Judy and Tim Connole wanted.

“Not happy, not happy at all,” said Judy Connole as she headed outside from Monday’s selectmen’s meeting at the Carmel town office.

The couple said the 24-foot culvert underneath their driveway was installed crookedly and sharpened the mouth of the driveway so that making a right turn out of it is a difficult and potentially dangerous prospect while trying to move their camper.

In an effort to smooth things over, the town extended the mouth using riprap rocks at the end of the culvert and recently covered them with dirt because the couple complained the rocks were too jagged. Rain washed away the earth twice, the Connoles said. Even the selectmen are frustrated that the issue keeps coming up in meetings.

Selectman John Luce said that although he wasn’t happy about having to spend more money, “I’m also not happy with hearing the same problem over and over.”

Town Manager James Collins said replacing the culvert was a costly proposition, explaining after the meeting that it could cost thousands of dollars and that extending the culvert 4 to 6 feet would cost less but would still be expensive. The selectmen opted for a less costly option and will have recycled asphalt – a more stable material – placed over the riprap, thereby extending the mouth.

But the Connoles weren’t convinced that what the town intends to do wasn’t just another quick fix for what they saw as a much larger problem.

“I know you don’t put a Band-Aid on a hemorrhage,” Judy Connole said after the meeting.

If it doesn’t work, they at least left with some assurances that the town would remedy the problem.

“We’re going to try that; if it doesn’t work we’ll fix it,” the board’s Chairwoman, Suzan Rudnicki, said.