Newcastle residents voted to allow a transfer of $1.45 million for the Lynch Road bridge project with minimal discussion at a Tuesday, Oct. 14 special town meeting.
By authorizing the transfer, Town Manager Kevin Sutherland said Newcastle can trudge on with winter construction to replace the current culvert.
“If we delay any longer, we run the risk of not getting any of the (Federal Emergency Management Agency) funding,” Sutherland said. “We do need to move forward.”
The new bridge is intended to solve two decades of structural instability of Dyer Creek. The culvert has been replaced three times over that time period, failing in 2010 and then failing again in May 2023 during a rain storm.
Engineering consulting firm VHB recommended a bridge replace the three-sided culvert to prevent further incidents.
“This has happened twice; it shouldn’t happen again,” said Carl Ayers, a senior structural engineer Ayers, a senior structural engineer at VHB at an Aug. 25 select board meeting. “The entire design was based on that.”
While the town would pay for the project at the front end, Town Manager Kevin Sutherland said FEMA and the Maine Emergency Management Agency should reimburse the majority of the costs.
CPM Constructors, of Freeport, plans to construct the bridge for an estimated $1.25 million. Sutherland estimated the town’s final costs will be anywhere from $86,996 to $429,626 for the bridge, depending on whether the emergency agencies approve additional mitigation assistance.
The town will transfer the necessary funds from its undesignated fund balance to the severe storm reserve account.
