LIVERMORE — Selectperson Mark Chretien announced Tuesday that no bids were received to snowblow Wyman Road this winter.
“We will have to reach out to a contractor and see if he will give us a price,” Chretien, the board chairman, said.
Administrative Assistant Aaron Miller said Thursday that a special meeting is set for 6 p.m. Thursday
A large dot marks the only home on dead-end Wyman Road, off Federal Road, in Livermore. Selectpersons had received no bids Tuesday for snowblowing the road this winter and will revisit the issues at a special meeting Thursday. Google maps screenshot
at the Town Office to revisit the issue.
At the Oct. 11 meeting, selectpersons voted to continue the process of discontinuing Wyman Road to winter maintenance and seek bids to snowblow it this winter. They cited the expense of plowing 135 feet for just one home as the reason for the bid request.
Chretien said the town would sand it because once it has been cleared, a truck could back down.
At a special meeting Sept. 20, selectpersons voted in favor of closing the dead-end road, which is off Federal Road/Route 4 and scheduled a public hearing on the issue for Sept. 29.
On Sept. 29, selectpersons took no action on the matter after the property owner, Chris McHugh, and his attorney questioned the legality of stopping winter maintenance. Several residents spoke against the discontinuance. Roberta Manter, a Fayette resident and founder of Maine Residents and Owners on Abandoned and Discontinued Ways, said state laws on discontinuance of roads to winter maintenance have changed.
The law includes a seven-step process. A year is required to provide time for abutting landowners to obtain easements. Voters must consider road discontinuances. The earliest Wyman Road could be put to the voters would be at the April 2024 town meeting.
Anthony and Terri Maxwell, John and Beth Johnson and Chris and Addie McHugh own property abutting Wyman Road. The Maxwell property has a driveway off Federal Road while the Johnsons’ access is through Schoolhouse Hill. The McHughs’ only access is via Wyman Road.
On Tuesday, Chris McHugh asked how much of Wyman Road the town would be sanding.
“We are only sanding our portion, the 135 feet,” Chretien said. “We will have it all marked out. It’s pretty much down to the first telephone pole like we showed you the last time Roger (Ferland, highway foreman) went down to see you.”
McHugh asked if meeting minutes would be posted on the town’s website.
“I am working on getting a new website going because the one that we have is incredibly complex,” Miller said. Agendas are not posted, selectpersons meet every two weeks at 6:30 p.m. and there may be special meetings as well, he noted. “The law requires we give the public ample amount of time to attend,” he said. Those wanting to know when a meeting is scheduled can call, he added.
“We are working towards making that website more user friendly for the public,” Miller said.
In other business, the board held an executive session and afterward voted to terminate highway worker Jason Richard, Miller said Thursday. Richard was on probationary status, he noted.
The Nov. 8 selectpersons meeting will be held at Spruce Mountain Primary School on the Gibbs Mill Road because town officials will be there for Election Day. Signing warrants for town bills will probably be the only agenda item.
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