The Livermore Select Board reviewed this recent survey map Tuesday showing Wyman Road, outlined at left, as it was envisioned for a subdivision in the 1920s but never developed. The dotted lines extending from Route 4 on the left to the rectangular box labeled as a house at the right is the road according to an old town tax map. The town map indicates the town owns about 135 feet from Route 4, not the entire 290 feet to the home of Christopher and Addie McHugh. The McHughs, who are the only residents on the road, have contested the town’s plan to discontinue plowing the road to their house. Pam Harnden/Livermore Falls Advertiser
LIVERMORE — The town must continue to maintain a section of the dead-end Wyman Road for another winter, until voters decide whether to discontinue the practice.
Selectmen came to the decision Tuesday after reviewing a survey by Main-Land Development Consultants of Livermore Falls that shows how the road was laid out for the Cottage Terrace subdivision in the 1920s, which was never developed. The survey shows the road to be about twice as wide and in a different direction from what is on old town tax map. The survey map and the town tax map show the road partially overlaps at the intersection of Route 4.
At issue is a legal dispute between the town and Christopher and Addie McHugh who are the only residents on the road. The town had been snowplowing the road as far as a turnaround — a distance of about 290 feet — near the couple’s home at the end of the road.
Selectmen had considered closing the road to winter maintenance, but took no action last Septemer after receiving pushback from Christopher McHugh, his lawyer and others.
In October 2022, selectpersons voted to begin the process to discontinue a 135-foot section of the road for winter maintenance, based on an old tax map that showed it was town property. The board voted to snowblow the area instead of plowing it.
The following month, the board hired Jamie Roy of Livermore to snowblow the town’s section for two years.
The McHughs appealed the town’s decision and on Feb. 15 the Androscoggin County Commission voted that Livermore must continue plowing the length of the road. Photos and a Maine Department of Transportation map were presented to the commission by McHugh’s attorney, Ron Guay, who said the state map did not agree with the town’s tax map.
According to the survey map, the town will be responsible for snowblowing an odd-shaped piece about 114 long on the southern side and 138 feet long on the northern side, Highway Foreman Roger Ferland said Friday.
Board Chairman Mark Chretien said Tuesday that he and Ferland would stake the new area to be snowblown.
The McHughs would be sent a certified letter indicating the survey results and the town’s plans moving forward.
“I can’t wait until Wyman Road is closed,” Selectperson Jeremy Emerson said.
As town officials move forward with plans to discontinue winter maintenance, Selectman Scott Richmond advised that they make sure of the timeline.
“There’s a certain process you have to follow,” he said.
“If we do it now, we are all set,” Chretien said.
Maine law requires a seven-step process. If an abutter ‘s property is not accessible by another way, the process needs to pause for a year to allow the property owner to confirm private access to property, according to information shared in October 2022. After a year, the process may be resumed if voters approve at a town meeting, the information notes.
The earliest that could happen is April 2024, Richmond said in October.
“We have to do it one more year,” Chretien said.
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