DIXFIELD — Public Works director Calvin Beaumier told the Board of Selectmen Monday evening that he was planning to install “No Parking” signs on the north side of Coburn Avenue by Thursday.

During the April 28 selectmen’s meeting, the board unanimously voted to restrict parking on the north side of Coburn Avenue after resident Sonya Fuller said that she was concerned about the number of cars parked on the road during activities at Marble Park.

“What happens is, people have been parking on the sidewalk so that no one can walk on it,” Fuller said during the April 28 meeting. “People end up having to walk in the middle of the street. People park on both sides, which makes it hard for emergency vehicles to get through.”

Police Chief Richard Pickett recommended to selectmen that they vote to restrict parking on one side of Coburn Avenue and direct residents to use the parking lot behind Dirigo High School.

“We would be lenient with people for the first couple of weeks,” Pickett said. “We’d warn them or leave notes, letting them know that they can’t park on one side of the street. After that, all bets are off. They would get tickets, and they would get towed.”

Beaumier said Monday evening that the “No Parking” signs would arrive at the Public Works building in “one or two days” and that he would install them later in the week.

“One question that I have about the signs is where exactly I should put them,” Beaumier told the selectmen. “There’s not really any space to put them on the sidewalk. Normally, there’s a road, a little bit of curbing and then the sidewalk. On Coburn Avenue, the road goes right into the sidewalk. If I’m going to put it on the sidewalk, it’ll have to go at the end of the road, and I worry that nobody will see it if I put it there.”

Selectman Hart Daley asked Beaumier how the high school set up their “No Parking” signs, to which he replied that he wasn’t sure.

“I guess for now, I’ll put it up near the end of Coburn Avenue, but I’m not sure if people will see them there,” Beaumier said. “I’ve heard some grumblings at games from people saying, ‘We’ve always parked there, and I don’t get why we can’t park there now.’”

In other business, Interim Town Manager Eugene Skibitsky told selectmen that he contacted a representative with the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program to get more information on why they were denied the CDBG they applied for in March.

The CDBG would have granted the town $500,000 towards a $1.8 million upgrade of water, sewer and drainage systems on six streets that was approved at a special town meeting in July 2013.

Daley asked Skibitsky during their April 28 meeting to inquire as to why the town was denied the grant.

“From what I understand, the grant was not approved because in the application, you did not present a gap of funding that needed to be filled,” Skibitsky said. “Otherwise, you submitted a good, strong application.”

“So if we would have left a $500,000 gap in our application that needed to be funded, then the CDBG would have likely granted us the money?” Whittemore asked.

“That’s correct,” Skibitsky replied. “This is a good lesson for you guys for the next time you apply for the grant.”

mdaigle@sunjournal.com

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