A section of Orchard Way in Turner is washed away during a May 1 rainstorm. Nearly 4 inches of rain fell in 24 hours, according to the National Weather Service. Submitted photo
TURNER — Selectmen on Monday discussed plans to repave roads — if it ever stops raining, they joked.
The higher-than-normal rainfall has washed out road shoulders, causing officials to dig deep into the road repair budget.
A May 1 storm wiped out pavement on sections of Orchard Way, Hebron Road and Young Road, according to Public Works Manager Kent Harrington. Other roads were also damaged, but those three were the worst. Though the town has repaired roads with gravel, they all need to be repaved.
The May 1 storm dropped 3.98 inches of rain in about 24 hours, according to data on the National Weather Service’s website.
It caused about $60,000 worth of damage to the town, Town Manager Kurt Schaub said.
The amount of damage did not meet the threshold for Federal Emergency Management Agency help, so the town will have to pay for it, he said. Likely it will be funded through the paving and construction budget — if not this year then next.
Like many towns in Maine, Turner has received higher than normal rainfall the past couple of months. In May, 7.37 inches fell, much higher than the 3.79 inches the town normally gets, according to data on the weather service’s website.
In June, the town got 5.47 inches, which was still higher than the 4.42 inches for that month, according to the weather service.
July rainfall is already nearly double the normal amount. The town usually gets 2.37 inches in July but the weather service has recorded 4.42 inches, so far.
Because the town will spend more of its road budget on repairs, it will have less for paving, Harrington said.
Board members and other town officials discussed more than a dozen roads that need repaving, some of which will have to wait.
The Public Works Department prepares roads for hot top and the town hires a company to pave them, which lowers costs, Harrington said. If the town were to pave on all the roads discussed, it would cost around $500,000, not including labor, materials and other factors.
Some of the roads the town will likely focus on repaving first include Johnson Hill, Holbrook and Tidwell roads, Harrington said. He said he will work on all the roads he can within his budget, but many of them will not get repaved this year.
There was some discussion of reviving the town’s Road Committee.
Harrington said he would welcome the help.
“I would just like to see our lists get completed, you know, because not once has that happened yet,” Selectman Kevin Nichols said.
In other business, the board briefly discussed developing a mass gathering ordinance. The concern was raised by a three-day concert scheduled for Labor Day weekend at the former Twitchell Airport.
The Maine Music Awards Hall of Fame Show and MaineFest concert are supposedly being held jointly, according to an advertisement in Uncle Andy’s Digest. It appears to be organized by Wayne Koss, founder of the Maine Music Awards, according to themainemusicawards.com.
Koss did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Because the town has no ordinance, its only protection is the state’s mass gathering law.
Selectmen thought an ordinance should not have unintended consequences for events such as parades.
Schaub said he would discuss the idea with the Planning Board.
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