FARMINGTON – A business and professional association wants to permanently mount six to eight bicycle racks on downtown sidewalks.

Selectmen tabled action on the proposal until after public works director, town manager and a business representative meet.

For the most part, selectmen supported the idea of having a place for bicyclists to put their bikes downtown. But selectmen raised concerns Tuesday on behalf of the town’s public works crew about removing snowbanks from the walks on Broadway and Main Street. Chairman Mary Wright asked if the racks could be placed in areas away from the immediate downtown area such as Front Street or Meetinghouse Park. She also raised the question about the department having to install the racks and then take them up in the winter.

Ernie Scholl, chairman of the Farmington Downtown Business & Professional Association’s Bike Rack Committee, said the racks shouldn’t be removed.

“They’re permanent,” he said.

He handed out information on the inverted U-shaped racks the group would like to install. He said the racks are recommended by the Maine Department of Transportation. Augusta recently installed 30 of the racks in Augusta, Scholl said. Fairfield is also looking at the racks, he said.

Scholl said bike racks need to be where people would use them.

People riding bicycles and shop downtown lean their bikes against the outside of businesses, Scholl said.

Downtown business that have requested a bike rack near their locations, Scholl said, include Liquid Sunshine, Java Joe’s, Devaney Doak and Garrett Booksellers and Everyday Music. Other places the association would like the racks installed is K & J Sports, Post Office, Meetinghouse Park and in front of the former Don’s AG.

The racks accommodate two bicycles and are heavy duty, Scholl said. They would be ordered in a color to match the street light poles. The racks could be be mounted 14 to 18 inches from the curbing either next to or near the light poles, he said. The New Sharon man, who has a music store on Broadway in Farmington, said the placement should eliminate potential issues of snow removal.

Resident Clyde Ross asked why the racks could be placed in parking lots of business-owned lots. But Scholl balked at that idea.

Scholl said mature bicyclists, such as himself, want to make sure they have some place to put their expensive bikes. He also said that racks would make the town more bicycle friendly.

Scholl met with Public Works Director Mitch Boulette and Town Manager Richard Davis on Wednesday to discuss the project. Boulette said before the meeting that his concern with the racks is snow won’t be able to be removed with the racks there. Business owners are responsible to maintain the walkway in front of their buildings, he said. The owners or representatives shovel the snow and add it to the bank created by the snowplows. Then the public works crew comes around and removes the bank – that’s where the racks become an issue.

The association has until September to capitalize on a 50 percent matching grant from the state Department of Transportation to help pay for the racks.

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