The town of Damariscotta is planning to request bids for winter maintenance on the town’s roads and the downtown area. The board is scheduled to discuss the matter during the board’s meeting Wednesday, Jan. 20.
Town Manager Matt Lutkus sent the board an updated draft of a request for proposals and contracts for the town roads and downtown Damariscotta on Monday, Jan. 18. The three-year contract would be in effect from Sept. 1, 2016 through Aug. 31, 2019.
Hagar Enterprises Inc., of Damariscotta, currently holds both the town roads and downtown winter maintenance contracts. Both contracts expire this May.
The draft town roads contract includes 23.94 miles of road, including state-aid roads and state highways. Each road has been given a high- or medium-priority designation. For roads designated high-priority, the contractor will begin plowing when a half-inch of snow has collected on the road surface. Plowing on other roads can begin when 1 inch of snow has collected on the road surface.
The downtown contract starts at the halfway point on the Damariscotta-Newcastle bridge and includes Main Street and the Main Street sidewalks to the information center at the south end of Church Street.
Elm, Cross, Water, and Theater Streets, along with Lewis Point and West Lewis Point roads, are part of the downtown winter road maintenance draft contract.
The sidewalks on Water Street, Cross Street, Theater Street, and Elm Street to Hodgdon Green are also included in the downtown contract, as are the Bristol Road sidewalk from Main Street to the Firehouse Gallery and the Bristol Road-Main Street island sidewalk.
The municipal parking lot and the town office parking lot are also included in the downtown draft contract.
Changes from the previous town road and downtown contracts include an increase in the contractor’s required minimum liability insurance to meet with recommendations from the Maine Municipal Association Risk Management Department. The contractor is also required to execute a surety bond or file a letter of credit with the town.
The draft contract for downtown winter maintenance does not include conditions of use for the town’s salt and sand shed, as the contract and the town roads contract may be awarded to two separate bidders. If the town awards both contracts to the same contractor, Lutkus said, the use of the shed can be negotiated.
Lutkus said town attorney Jennifer Villeneuve is reviewing both of the contracts and may have changes to bring to the Jan. 20 meeting.
According to the current draft of the request for proposals, an informational meeting will be held at the Damariscotta town office Tuesday, Jan. 26 at 2 p.m. for contractors interested in submitting proposals.
Completed proposals must be received at the town office by 1 p.m. Feb. 11. The bids will be publicly opened at the town office Feb. 11.
The selectmen are also scheduled to discuss an agreement with River Falls Trust regarding the use of the trust’s property to dispose of snow collected from downtown into the Damariscotta River. The board tabled the proposed agreement at the Jan. 6 meeting to allow Villeneuve to revise some of the language.
