ROXBURY — Voters at town meeting in March may be deciding the fate of an old section of Horseshoe Valley Road if selectmen can learn what should be done about it.
A young man who didn’t identify himself asked the board Tuesday night how to get a quitclaim deed on the section of old road that goes through to Andover. It’s a snowmobile trail with a snowmobile bridge, Chairman John Sutton said.
The young man, who owns property along the section, said a road closure sign was erected but didn’t stop people from driving trucks down the road and over the bridge, which he said is in bad shape. He wants that section reverted to a private road.
Sutton told him that a quitclaim isn’t the right process. It’s discontinuing it as a town road.
“It would be no longer a public way, but people can still drive on it to get to their properties,” he said. “We can find out the procedure for discontinuing a road from the Maine Municipal Association, but then we would have to go before the town for a vote.”
The man said it isn’t fair that he and an abutting property owner have to do maintenance on the road, when truck traffic is damaging it.
“Even if it’s shut down, it’s still an access road,” resident Matthew Patneaude said.
“Discontinuing a road and discontinuing maintenance is quite a can of worms when you get into it,” Sutton said.
In other business, a resident asked what happened to the solar light atop the flagpole outside the Town Office. Sutton apologized and said he hadn’t replaced it yet.
But Renee Hodsdon, deputy town clerk, tax collector and treasurer, said she has an inquiry out for a price to place an LED light atop the Town Office roof to light the flag at night.
The resident also asked selectmen about lighting the new driveway into the Town Office parking area. Sutton said the redone driveway, parking lot and fire station entrance will be paved next year and marked to ensure visibility at night.
“Once it starts snowing, it will take care of it,” he said.
Sutton said selectmen would look into adding more visible reflectors. “Once people get used to it, it won’t be a problem, but we will attempt to make it more visible at night.”
The board also told a resident that they can take two buckets of sand from the sand and salt shed now, “as long as it’s not abused.”
Code Enforcement Officer Bob Folsom said he gained compliance from a property owner at Roxbury Pond who had an illegal outdoor shower that was draining into the pond. He said the resident eventually removed the shower and some problem trailers in the yard.
Selectmen and Planning Board members have been using Folsom more to crack down on equipment and illegal outdoor showers that are not allowed on properties following a watershed survey that was undertaken to preserve the pond’s water quality and aesthetics.
Sutton said he met with the owner of Archie’s in Mexico and learned that the town’s trash collection contract is for only 25 weeks on certain roads at Roxbury Pond village. He said the owner is willing to change the contract.
The board took no action on a property with a building that has long been deemed dangerous. Selectmen are soliciting bids for its demolition and have received one so far. Sutton suggested waiting until January when the building and land become tax acquired, but cutting electricity to the building now.
The board’s next regular meeting will be at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 25. A joint workshop between selectmen and the Planning Board will be at 4 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 9. Both will be at the Town Office.
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