LIVERMORE — Selectpersons Tuesday night, Feb. 28, said Wyman Road would continue to be snow blown this winter, that plowing it couldn’t be started now.
Wyman Road is a dead end that connects to Federal Road — which is also Route 4 — where Chris and Addie McHugh live.
In September selectpersons took no action on closing the road to winter maintenance after receiving pushback from the McHughs and others.
In October they voted to begin the process to discontinue a section of the road for winter maintenance. The board said it had an old tax map that indicated it was town property for only the first 135 feet.
In November the board contracted with Jamie Roy of Livermore to snowblow the town’s section of Wyman Road. The two-year contract was based on 20 storms at $250 per storm each year and the work done as needed.
On Feb. 15 the Androscoggin County Commission voted that Livermore must continue plowing the road. The McHughs had filed a petition appealing the town’s decision. Photos and a Maine Department of Transportation map were presented the commission by McHugh’s attorney, Ron Guay, which he said did not agree with the town’s tax map showing the road to be only 125 feet long.
“When we went to the county commissioners they said it has to be done the way it has been for the last 60 years,” Chris McHugh said. “[Roy] just came down at six o’clock tonight to do the road. I mean we can’t get out of there. The way the town used to do it, they would come down as they [plowed] the rest of [Route 4].”
“It hasn’t been plowed all year,” Selectperson Chairman Mark Chretien stated. “On the end it’s soft. That’s why we didn’t. We are not plowing the other half. We’ve already got a contract with [Roy] so we just extended that part.”
McHugh asked about the town’s turn around.
“[Roy] can’t get into the turn around,” Chretien said. “When they sand they back down all the way from the road.”
It always used to be plowed, McHugh said.
“Well, you can’t start now,” Selectperson Scott Richmond said.
“Chris, you are getting [plowed] down to your house,” Chretien said. “What happened today is one of [Roy’s] employees got in an accident, so he went to that accident. He was supposed to be there, I had talked to him earlier.”
“[Roy] told me he was going to wait until the end of every storm before he came down,” McHugh said.
“[Roy] should be [plowing] at least two times a storm,” Richmond said.
“I just got done talking with him and he said he was only coming down once a storm because that is how he gets paid,” McHugh said.
“No, [Roy] has done it twice many storms already, all the big storms,” Chretien stated.
“It is hard to get out of there if he doesn’t do it,” McHugh said.
“We understand that,” Chretien said.
“We have been stuck at the top of the hill a few times,” McHugh noted.
In other business, selectpersons voted to extend an agreement with Livermore Falls to provide nonemergency coverage for another 30 days. The agreement, also approved by Jay and Livermore Falls officials was retroactive to Oct. 1 and would run through March 1. Livermore and Jay would alternate every two weeks in covering nonemergency calls from Livermore Falls.
“As you know, we have been responding to Livermore Falls every two weeks,” Fire Chief Donald Castonguay said. “We are on two weeks, Jay is on two. I sent them the bill for the first four weeks we were on it.
“This is just going to continue 30 more days. If they don’t have their crap together we’re done.”
“Starting April 1 they are on their own,” Richmond, who is also a member of the fire department, said. “One thing we did change is they are going to get toned out first.”
If nobody responds, Livermore will, Richmond stated.
“Hopefully there is no danger or whatever,” Castonguay said. “I am watching the radio pretty close and I will listen, see what it is.”
For fires, and car accidents Livermore will continue to provide mutual aide as it always has, Richmond said. For nonemergency calls Livermore Falls will get a chance to respond, he noted.
“They supposedly have 11 people on their roster now, hopefully it will give them some encouragement to step up,” Richmond added.
Castonguay said he had spoken with the assistant chief in Livermore Falls, told him to use the radio to indicate that that department is responding so Livermore could hold back on minor calls.
“For a little fender bender, something like that, we don’t need to be there,” Castonguay said. “Sometimes [having a larger response] causes more problems.”
By consensus selectpersons also agreed to meet at 6 p.m. every other Tuesday going forward. Meetings had started at 6:30 p.m.
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