OBSERVER Photo by M.J. Stafford

The roundabout at Routes 20 and 60 finally has something in it other than weeds.

Crushed marble was placed there recently by the Pomfret Highway Department, Deputy Town Supervisor Ann Eckman told the OBSERVER. “We hope to continue the beautification next year,” she said.

Unfortunately, donation of the stone for the roundabout fell through. “The town paid for it, (it was) not donated. I tried,” said Eckman.

A sculpture by Joe Sorci, titled “Unfurl,” was supposed to be placed in the roundabout. That has been delayed many months by holdups on permitting from the state.

“We are continuing to pursue the permits to place the sculpture,” Eckman, who has led the roundabout beautification effort, said. “I have not received the final OK yet.”

Eckman said last month the state Department of Transportation had safety concerns about putting the sculpture in the middle of the roundabout. It will likely have to be installed nearby; Eckman said the area next to Rite Aid could be a possibility.

The plain white rock inside the roundabout is an improvement over the weeds that used to spring up there, but it is less than what was planned. Eckman originally hoped to get a garden in there beside the sculpture, but the garden was stymied by maintenance concerns.

Some in the community have complained that while the state built a plain, unadorned roundabout locally, it constructed one featuring gardens and flagpoles about 15 miles down the road. Eckman has noted that roundabout is five times larger, and was constructed under an agreement between the state and the Seneca Nation in which the nation allowed the state to do road construction in its land.