BETHEL — A special selectmen’s meeting scheduled for 5 p.m. Wednesday, July 24, at the Bethel Town Office has been canceled, according to Board of Selectmen Chairman Stan Howe.
The special meeting originally had been set up to allow the board to approve a contractor bid to create road signs for local businesses but Howe said the selectmen needed more time to search for a bidder.
“We still haven’t been able to find any bidders so we need a little more time to continue looking and find the correct price quote,” Howe said.
Town Manager Jim Doar said that when the town finds a bidder, they’ll set up a date for another meeting.
The canceled meeting comes a week after Gov. Paul LePage and the Commissioner of the Department of Transportation ordered that two temporary MDOT directional signs be erected on Route 2 on either side of the Sunday River Road intersection to point the way to the Black Diamond Steakhouse, owned by Ron and Rick Savage.
Three weeks prior to the order of the Governor and the MDOT commissioner, the town filed a civil lawsuit against the Savages, accusing them of multiple violations of the town sign ordinance dating back to March 2012. These include violation of the town’s road sign ordinance, which was amended in June by voters at the annual town meeting in order to make it less restrictive to local businesses.
According to Ron Savage, after the town meeting vote in June, he and Rick called the Town Office to get a permit for a sign but were told that the permits hadn’t been written yet.
Savage added that with the summer season underway, his business couldn’t afford to wait and put up its own temporary signs.
mdaigle@sunjournal.com
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