The Newcastle Board of Selectmen convened an emergency session at the town office at 10 a.m. this morning (July 3) to consider immediate action on a number of state and town roads damaged during a fierce, fast moving thunderstorm that passed through the Midcoast before midnight July 2.
After a brief discussion of the damages and various courses of action, the board authorized Damariscotta based Hagar Enterprises to perform emergency repairs to East Old County Road in order to make the roadway passable.
Hagar Enterprises co-owner Seth Hagar advised the board that immediate repairs included stripping away the damaged road surface, adding gravel where needed and re-ditching the roadway.
In a related action, the board authorized town administrator and acting road commissioner Ron Grenier to delegate repair responsibilities to local contractors as needed. Grenier said he immediately planned to delegate some cleanup work to contractor Don Hunt. Hunt also attended the meeting.
Grenier advised the state Dept. of Transportation has been contacted about a number of state roads in town that were damaged. He told the board the town has approximately $65,000 left in the town’s road budget for the year, although that amount does not include expenditures through the month of June.
Grenier added that Newcastle roads consultant Travis Noyes would be in town Monday or Tuesday and would view the damage with the road committee at that time to help develop a plan of action.
In discussion the board established the following local roads sustained and are in need of repair: East Old County Rd., Cochran Rd., North Dyer Neck Rd., Lewis Hill Rd., West Old County Rd., and Station Rd.
Damaged state roads include River Rd., Sheepscot Rd. and Rtes. 194, 215 and 213.
