The gates must

be removed

from Batten Road

by Sept. 2.
By Cora C. Briggs
Special to the Sun Journal

LIVERMORE – After reviewing a letter from attorney Lee Bragg on Batten Road access, selectpersons voted Monday night to set Sept. 2 as the date to have the gates removed.

If the gates are not removed by that date, the town could proceed to have them removed, Bragg said, and the board will. It then will have complied with its statutory obligations.

He added that the town is not required to repair the public easement or to maintain it in any particular condition and that it would be necessary to obtain town meeting approval before the board could spend funds on repairing the road.

Bragg noted he had been advised by attorney Pat Joyce, who represents Ken Constantine, that considerable pessimism was expressed about the possibility of constructing an alternate route around the mining operation.

The Constantines want to require to town to bear the expense of the road construction and would require indemnification from the town, Bragg added.

“Both conditions seem unworkable from the town’s point of view, and it is therefore unlikely we will be able to negotiate a solution along these lines,” he wrote.

In other road-related business, the board voted not to repair the 1991 highway truck, which would need about $2,000 in transmission repairs. It was due to be sold when the new wheeler arrives and will be sold as is.

Estimates to pave the Route 4 aprons of Sanders and Norton roads came in at $6,565. Administrative Assistant Kurt Schaub is to contact the Maine Department of Transportation office in Dixfield to see if the state would assist on the cost.

The board hopes to commit the taxes at the Sept. 2 meeting, and the annual audit is scheduled for the week of Sept. 22.

The board agreed to share with Glenda Richards the $500 cost of removing a dead tree from the line between her property and the new section of Lakeside Cemetery.

Selectpersons agreed to support a decision by the Solid Waste Board on Aug. 12 concerning access to the facility outside its regular operating hours.

Town employees are not to provide preferential access to selected residents. Liability problems could arise if a resident is injured or causes damage when employees are not present, it was noted.

Code Enforcement Officer Richard Marble reported several violations including a gazebo next to the water on Long Pond and another by an owner who was taken to court last year for cutting in the 100 foot buffer strip.

That owner has now taken a backhoe to a small brook, cut vegetation and is making a lawn to the brook, Marble stated. He has contacted the Department of Environmental Protection and will take actions regarding the shoreland violation.

In investigating a report of violations on Round Pond, he said he discovered a new deck and roof as well as an expansion of an older deck, none of which were on the card when the property was last visited in 1993.

The owner has been notified of the violation and is to submit an application by Aug. 30, Marble said.

The town has received $7,839 from the septic grant program and should be receiving another $5,194 soon.

Marble will be contacting a Goding Road owner about moving a pig fence which is within a few inches of the tar.

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