MEXICO — The Board of Selectmen on Tuesday unanimously approved five crack-sealing projects for streets totaling close to $10,000.
Kent Mann provided Town Manager John Madigan with a list of streets in need of sealing.
From that list, Madigan proposed that sections of Backkingdom Road, Brown Street, Mexico Avenue and Ledgeview Avenue have work done on minor cracks for a total of $5,313.75. The town appropriated $5,000 to cover this.
Madigan also asked selectmen to have Rhino-Seal Asphalt Maintenance, owned by Kent Mann, seal cracks from Main Street over the parking lot in back of the town hall to the boat landing for $4,488. The money would be taken from the asphalt account, which has $12,390.
The town has had Mann seal cracks in the past, which Madigan said has helped extend the life of streets.
“The time to get them done is when they (the cracks) are small. Once they start opening up, the water really starts eroding the pavement,” he said.
The board also wants Mann to seal the cracks in the walkway in front of the Town Office, which Madigan said Mann offered to do for free last spring.
In other business, Madigan went over a list of properties with outstanding tax bills that will be listed into the annual town report.
He noted one case, the Mexico Car Wash on Main Street, which the town acquired on April 12.
“Well, it looks like we’re going to be entrepreneurs,” Selectman Byron Ouellette said.
Selectman Reggie Arsenault said, “Yeah, you can do tires by day, and run the car wash at night.”
Madigan said the business has not paid any taxes for the past three years.
Town Clerk Penny Duguay said the total due is $16,000, which includes the estimate for next year. Water and sewer charges are not included.
“There’s multiple owners. It’s a mess,” she said.
Arsenault said he noticed the business was still operating last weekend.
Madigan said he’s still hopeful that taxes can be collected from the business.
In a discussion with Road Foreman John Blais, Madigan said it was decided that roads will remain posted with weights limits until the end of April.
Following the meeting, the board met in executive session to begin discussion of how they wish to proceed with the town manager position following Madigan’s retirement in June.
Madigan has served as town manager for Mexico and Rumford for over two years. He has offered to assist in the transition until January 2017.
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