The Damariscotta Board of Selectmen expressed their displeasure with the quality of recent paving on Biscay Road at their Oct. 20 meeting.
“We do not consider the Biscay Road job complete,” Chairman Dick McLean said.
“The road is already washing out,” Selectman Vicki Pinkham said. Pinkham also criticized the height of the shoulders. “In a lot of places, they’re like this,” she said, holding her hands about six inches apart to demonstrate the distance between the shoulder and the roadside.
“Kids ride their bikes to school on that road and a couple of them have flipped,” Pinkham said.
Damariscotta Town Manager Greg Zinser agreed to contact the Dept. of Transportation regarding the issue.
Nineteen people, most DPAC members or other town officials, attended the meeting, intended to educate residents about the impact of possible zoning amendments known as form-based codes.
Wilbur read a prepared statement encouraging public participation in the process.
Zinser also spoke briefly about the process. Robert Orr, a consultant hired by the town, will arrive in mid-November to begin writing the codes, Zinser said.
Zinser, in discussion with two residents in attendance at the meeting, also addressed the role of the Piper Commons development in the public debate. “Every discussion that I have ever had comes down to the bottom line – What is going in?” Zinser said.
Residents want to know what businesses will move into the development, but until the town passes or rejects the new code, the developer can’t market the development to potential tenants. “It’s a catch-22,” Zinser said.
Unfortunately, in the eyes of at least one Damariscotta resident, citizens’ feelings about the development color their opinion of the codes. “The form-based code is Piper Commons. That’s the town’s perception,” Dick Farrell said.
In other zoning news, the selectmen unanimously voted to table discussion of an amendment to the town’s backlot ordinance. The current ordinance is “very difficult for the Code Enforcement Officer to work through it without a great deal of interpretation,” Zinser said.
“It’s a little presumptuous to be moving forward on this right away,” Zinser said, since any amendments may be short-lived if the town adopts a system of form-based codes.
According to Atwater, the left hand turn signal turns on during every cycle at the light, even if no traffic is in a left hand turn lane. Because traffic can’t go straight while the green arrow is on, this slows traffic through the intersection.
Zinser said he visited the intersection after previous comments by Atwater and did not witness any malfunction.
“I can’t believe that it worked fine for you,” Atwater said. “Will it ever start blinking at night like it was supposed to?” he asked.
“You can set it up any way that you want to,” Zinser said.
Atwater faulted DOT and contractor A.D. Electric for the apparent problems. “I don’t want to spend any more money because I don’t think it’s our responsibility,” he said.
Atwater and Pinkham agreed to record the time and circumstances each time they see the traffic light operating incorrectly and the board agreed to revisit the subject at a future date.
McLean said he would discuss the matter with Bristol Town Administrator Kristine Poland.
Damariscotta “areas of priority” amount to a total of $90,000 in necessary work to Back Meadow Road, Chapman Street, Egypt Road and Miles Street.
Kaiser and selectmen also discussed Massasoit Drive, home to the Damariscotta Fire Department. The degradation of the road is “starting to damage some of the equipment,” Zinser said.
“I’ll put this right to the forefront for you,” Kaiser said. “We will address it as quick as we can.”
LCEMA asks towns for information about areas susceptible to erosion, flooding, storms and wildfire. According to LCEMA documents, participation in the plan can amount to “tens of thousands of dollars” in Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Hazard Mitigation Grants.
