ROXBURY — Selectmen signed a contract Tuesday night with Swasey Excavation of Andover for $337,556 for road work.

The work, which is part of an $850,000 project, covers everything except paving and tree removal along roadsides, acting board Chairman Tim Derouche said.

“We’ll be working with Swasey and (Bruce) Manzer to determine if we have to put the paving out to bid,” Derouche said.

Included in the work are a 9,149-foot stretch of Main Street from the bridge to the Byron town line, half a mile of village roads, the Town Hall parking lot, and a new cemetery loop road at Pine View Cemetery. Village roads include Canwell Hill, North and South Hillside roads and South Railroad Street.

Derouche and Selectman Michael Worthley also gave Swasey permission to cross posted roads to place their equipment. Selectmen Chairman John Sutton was absent.

“We believe the frost has gone out of the ground,” Derouche said.

Selectmen also added a provison to the contract allowing Swasey to start work before May 22, provided Swasey Excavation assumes all risk of payment until Roxbury has secured financing. Derouche said May 22 is the anticipated date to secure financing, but isn’t guaranteed.

The work must be completed by Aug. 22.

Selectmen also voted 2-0 to have Swasey install the town street signs by May 23. That work, which was approved last year, will cost $1,576, Derouche said.

Eric Swasey said the firm would also sweep and pick up the dirt and salt from 4.2 miles of town roads for $2,809.62, but Worthley wanted to wait. It was tabled to the next meeting on May 12.

Additionally, the board voted to draft and send letters to landowners who have turnarounds and those who have trees that will be cut for the project.

In other business, selectmen:

* Accepted the resignation of Health Officer Catherine Prescott.

* Appointed Mike Mills of Roxbury to fill the one-year term of Planning Board member Tony DeSalle.

* Approved July 14-18 for spring cleanup. Residents are to put material out by 7 a.m. Monday, July 14, for collection, but not before July 11.

* Approved paying $1,700 to the Silver Lake Camp Owners Association for the town’s share of the May 3 watershed survey.

Selectmen also approved sending a letter to Roxbury’s fire chief and assistant chief about the town’s smoking policy. The move pertains to a complaint about two firefighters at a Fire Department meeting.

Town Clerk Nina Hodgkins said one firefighter was chewing tobacco in violation of the policy. But the other firefighter was smoking an electronic cigarette, which isn’t covered by the policy. Hodgkins was advised to contact the River Valley Healthy Communities Coalition to help draft an amendment to the policy covering electronic cigarettes.

The assistant fire chief said he’d handle contacting the chief, but selectmen wanted to send letters as well.

Additionally, selectmen OK’d allowing the Maine Department of Transportation to drop off a box culvert at the Town Hall parking lot to replace the Meadow Brook culverts on Route 120 in case they expedite the 2015 project for this year.

Route 120 (Roxbury Pond Road) between Andover and Roxbury was shut down on April 15 when the culverts failed and part of the pavement collapsed.

Mark Hume, MDOT regional project manager in Dixfield, said Tuesday by email that one of the four culverts came apart in the middle.

“We put it back together, and then placed some erosion-control fabric around the inlets and outlets and placed some riprap on top of it,” Hume said. “This should hold until the culverts get replaced with one large box culvert planned for 2015.”

The board also held an unscheduled, two-minute executive session midway through the meeting to discuss a potential foreclosure action. After exiting the session, they voted 2-0 to give the landowner an extension to May 12 to pay a $66.30 tax lien.

tkarkos@sunjournal.com

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