The Damariscotta Select Board talked roads, sewer lines, parking, and recreation at its Wednesday, Aug. 16 meeting.
Shoulder material has been placed on Egypt and Belvedere roads following months of discussion between the town and contractor Hagar Enterprises Inc. about responsibility for the cost. A change to the work plan made in the field by the contractor led to higher shoulders than anticipated in some places.
Dorr said earlier this month that areas of the road already had shoulder gaps, which the contractor should not be responsible for.
The town’s estimated additional cost for the materials is $48,000, Dorr said.
A driver drove through the shim asphalt shoulders the day it was laid, likely on purpose, Dorr said, causing the shoulders to “blow out.” The Damariscotta Police Department is investigating.
“It’s very discouraging,” board Chair Daryl Fraser said.
Patti Whitten attended the meeting to answer questions on behalf of the cemetery committee about its parking concerns at the Alden-Chapman Cemetery on Egypt Road. With the new width of the road, there is no parking available, she said, and the new shoulder height of 14 inches is an “ankle-twisting” risk.
Cemetery committee members have suggested beveling down the shoulder, or spreading gravel if the town is able to provide it. Dorr said he would reach out to the cemetery committee to meet about the problems.
Municipal sewer line problems are also on their way to resolution, according to Dorr. One uncapped sewer line leading to overflow in downtown buildings has been capped and an engineer is working on plans to correct other issues with old lines the town had been unaware of this summer.
In other municipal plans, he said a draft of a new traffic and parking ordinance could come before the board in September in time for Pumpkinfest.
Under state law, a traffic and parking ordinance can be passed by the board without a special town meeting, according to Dorr. One priority for a new version would be creating options for oversized vehicles in the downtown. Buses and RVs do not have any legal places to park under the current ordinance, Dorr said.
Tax bills are in the mail after a delay due to needed corrections.
Dorr also reported that Coastal Rivers Conservation Trust has been testing public beaches and founds all of them with low enough to levels of E. coli to allow swimming.
Discussion continued of the select board’s work plan goals, included its noncompliance with the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund. The fund gave the town over $30,000 in the 1980s for three projects at the current CLC YMCA site, which is no longer owned by Damariscotta.
The grant terms required the projects be open to public recreation forever, and the town is not eligible for more grants until a similar project is approved to transfer the requirement.
Dorr said the town cannot simply pay back the grant award if it would be cheaper than the required new site appraisal and construction.
Dorr said Damariscotta is one of about 30 towns in the state out of compliance with the fund, a similar figure on the national level. In Lincoln County, Edgecomb and Waldoboro both experienced similar grant conflicts.
Dick McLean, Damariscotta representative to the Lincoln County Regional Planning Commission, asked if the board had reviewed its appointments for the commission. Representatives are typically from the select board, he said, but do not automatically change when board membership does.
Aside from himself, former board member Lou Abbotoni was the existing representative and former Town Manager Matt Lutkus the alternate.
The board appointed member Tom Anderson to Abbotoni’s former position at the Aug. 16 meeting and will find options for a new alternate.
The board also unanimously approved the transfer of up to $10,000 from the Damariscotta Fire Department’s building reserve to cover the replacement of the station’s recently failed boiler.
In other business, the board unanimously approved an on-premise liquor license application for Schooner Landing.
The Damariscotta Select Board next meets at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 6 in the town office and online.
