The Waldoboro Board of Selectmen directed Town Manager John Spear to draw up a pair of potential ordinance amendments for future consideration in response to traffic issues highlighted at the board’s Aug. 28 meeting.
A parking space on Main Street in Waldoboro, above the intersection with Jefferson Street, may be removed after town officials inspected the area and found parked cars in that location were obstructing traffic sight-lines.
In a separate issue, Police Chief Bill Labombarde asked the board to consider amending its traffic ordinance to allow for towing of any vehicle with three or more outstanding parking violations. The owner of the vehicle would be responsible for the towing bill and any other outstanding tickets prior to the release of the vehicle.
Spear said the board may consider signing notice of the proposed ordinance changes as early as their next regular meeting Sept. 11. The actual amendments would be made at a later meeting.
Selectmen also heard from resident John Lawrence whose concerned that a widening project, now underway, would bring the road too close to his house at 455 Flanders Corner Rd. The house is owned by the Marcia M. Smolin Living Trust.
Lawrence said the banking is not stable and he is concerned about potential impact to the foundation of the house.
According to background materials provided by Waldoboro Town Manager John Spear, the town has been upgrading Flanders Corner Road over the past few years on an intermittent basis, as time and funds allow.
One aspect of the upgrade has been to widen the travel way to 16 feet with 2-foot shoulders, for a total width of 20 feet. The upgrade, including the widening, has not been completed in the area near the house where Lawrence lives.
Lawrence said he wants to lay stone in the embankment, level with the surface, to reduce the possibility of erosion.
Public Works Director John Daigle disagreed with Lawrence’s description of the width of the right of way as being two rods, or 33 feet, wide. Daigle said the road is 2.5 rods wide.
Lawrence said recorded measurements in town records are inaccurate and that he has measured the width between stone walls throughout the length of Flanders Corner Road at two rods.
Daigle said measurements must be taken from midway in the walls, and that the width is 38-40 feet. He said moving the road to accommodate Lawrence’s earlier request for the town to undertake a land swap to relocate the road several feet to the west in the area where it approaches and passes by the house, would be costly.
Lawrence said residents are prepared to petition the state to reduce the speed limit on Flanders Corner Road from 45 mph to 25 mph.
The board agreed to hold a workshop meeting on the issue.
In other business, Spear was instructed by selectmen to see if legal fees incurred in a lawsuit against the town can be recovered. The Maine Supreme Court recently affirmed a lower court ruling in the case regarding the holding of an open town meeting in 2011 be dismissed.
Spear said the costs were approximately $4000 and he would look into the matter and report back to the selectmen before taking any action.
A representative of the Maine Dept. of Environmental Protection will attend the next meeting of the Waldoboro Shellfish Committee, Thurs. Sept. 6 at 7 p.m.
The Planning Board will review proposed changes in the town’s Land Use Ordinance that may appear on the Nov. 6 ballot when they meet Weds., Sept. 5.
The next meeting of the Waldoboro Board of Selectmen takes place Weds., Sept. 12. The Planning Board will also meet at that time. Locations for these meetings are yet to be confirmed.
(Ed Note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly reported the Waldoboro Board of Selectmen amended the town’s traffic ordinance in response to the parking and towing issues. The Lincoln County News apologizes for the error. )
