Norway, Oxford and Paris are weighing a highway mutual aid agreement.
By Gail Geraghty
Staff Writer

PARIS – The towns of Norway, Oxford and Paris are considering a mutual aid agreement to share equipment and personnel among their highway departments.

The Highway Mutual Aid pact would be primarily limited to emergency situations, such as when equipment breaks down during a snowstorm.

But Oxford Town Manager Mike Huston said all three town managers and three road commissioners agree there should be some flexibility for non-emergency sharing of equipment and personnel.

“For instance, the town of Paris owns a chipper. The town of Oxford will be doing some brush cutting this summer,” Huston said in a memo to selectmen. “If we could borrow the chipper, it saves Oxford the cost of renting one.”

Also, if Paris wanted to do some sidewalk sweeping, and wished to borrow Oxford’s power brooms, there ought to be some mechanism in the agreement to allow that, Huston said.

If a town had snowplow equipment break down during a storm, the other towns could help out, Huston said, either by lending a truck or by picking up a two-or-three mile stretch of road adjacent to a regular route for that town.

The idea for a highway mutual aid agreement came up at a recent meeting of the town managers and highway foremen. They were talking about collaborating on the construction of a walking path around the athletic fields at Oxford Hills Middle School.

At Monday’s meeting Paris selectmen said they thought the highway agreement was a good idea, but wanted a chance to study the draft agreement in more detail before agreeing to it.

“I can see the usefulness of it,” said Head Selectman Ray Glover. “We would first want to make sure our needs are met first” before lending out equipment or manpower.

Paris Town Manager Stephen McAllister said the agreement would contain specific language giving the towns the right to refuse assistance or recall equipment, when it is needed to meet their own town’s needs.

“We’re basically already helping each other out,” said McAllister. “We just want to get it in writing.”