Maine Dept. of Transportation project manager Steve Bodge will attend the Thurs., March 22 meeting of the South Bristol Board of Selectmen to discuss the recently delayed swing bridge project.
The print edition of The Lincoln County News and a previous online posting of this story incorrectly reported the meeting date.
The DOT announced its decision to push the project schedule back by about a year Jan. 30.
The schedule had called for construction to start in the summer or fall of this year. Now, the department has set the advertise date for spring or summer of 2013.
A DOT representative told The Lincoln County News the department needs to “re-evaluate” multiple aspects of the project, including rising cost estimates, property impacts and the construction process.
The project sparked some local controversy when the department said it was negotiating the acquisition and removal of The Bridge House, a turn-of-the-century home on Rutherford Island.
The department has since said it wants to look into whether it can replace the bridge “without taking a house.”
The selectmen’s meeting starts at 6 p.m. at the South Bristol town office.
Ken Maguire, the longtime moderator of South Bristol’s annual town meetings, filed a notice of claim against the town and Ken Lincoln, the chairman of the Board of Selectmen, in August 2011.
The selectmen have since expressed a desire to hire a non-resident to moderate town meetings.
Gallagher, a Damariscotta resident, also represents Damariscotta and has moderated annual town meetings there.
The moderator is technically an elected position, although towns frequently hire lawyers to moderate their annual town meetings.