Canton’s newly hired Public Works Foreman Andy Conant reports to the Select Board the progress of his first two weeks on the job Thursday in the Town Office meeting room. His first day of work was May 1, a day the town and much of the state saw severe flooding and damage to roads from the rainstorms. Marianne Hutchinson/Rumford Falls Times
CANTON — In his first week on the job, Public Works Foreman Andy Conant had the heavy task of dealing with severe flooding and damaged roads following substantial rainfall, in addition to overseeing scheduled road work, he told Select Board members during their meeting Thursday.
A section of Campbell Road is still closed from the complete washout of an area of the road caused by flooded culverts. Select Board Chair Russell Adams discussed with Conant the possibility of “putting gravel back in” to the cratered areas of the road and if they should post the road for vehicles under 10,000 pounds until August.
Adams also said that he would ask the town’s Emergency Management Agency Director Rob Walker if the road damage would fall under the state’s disaster declaration.
Conant told the selectmen that he was sure that he could get bids from other road repair crews to help in the repairs and that the cost for the work “might be closer to $8,000.” He also said that he saw a marked difference in the capacity of the 15-inch and 18-inch culvert openings to handle the flow of the floodwaters.
“The way the weather is changing, our infrastructure is just way undersized because it doesn’t rain anymore; it pours,” Selectman Carole Robbins said.
Selectman Michelle Larrivee noted that installing concrete culverts to replace the damaged culverts would probably be more cost effective.
Of the roads damaged by the storm, Campbell Road and Meadowview Road are not currently passable because of large washed out sections, the selectmen said. Other roads that suffered storm damage but have been repaired are Alden Hill Road, Staples Hill Road and Canton Mountain Road.
Larrivee publicly thanked Conant “for a job well done,” and “for an amazing first week (on the job).”
In another matter, the selectmen discussed some ideas of what to do with several piles of tree stumps over 8-feet high created by dead trees pulled from and around Pine Grove Cemetery on state Route 108.
Larrivee noted that the Select Board will need to seek bids to get rid of the piles and after that residents will decide at the annual Town Meeting in June what method should be used to remove the wood.
“There is gonna be a lot of work you’ve got to do to get to the point of burning (the wood),” Selectman Kristi Carrier said. “There is so much organic matter (within the piles).”
Larrivee said that she thought half of the dead wood should be burned and half should be buried, while Robbins said that she wanted to burn the wood piles.
In other business, the town is seeking bids to paint the Town Office meeting room. The room is approximately 30 feet x 30 feet with 10-foot-high walls. Bids for the work may be sent to the Canton Town Office at 94 Turner St. no later than May 24 at 4 p.m. For more information, call the town office at 597-2920.
Water washes across Campbell Road in Canton Monday, May 1, after heavy rain fell overnight. Andree Kehn/Sun Journal
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