LIVERMORE – After a year of controversy, the opposing parties worked out a tentative compromise Monday night on the status of Batten Road.

“Apparently there was an agreement (in 1992). I’m just beginning to believe that there was one, not just what was in the minutes,” said Steve Mancine who has been fighting to get the road open over an area that is now a gravel pit.

That agreement allowed Ralph Walton and Ken Constantine to continue their sand and gravel mining operations.

It was vague and not correctly done, Mancine noted, but it was an agreement and what they did was in good faith, referring to a previous board and the mine operators.

Schaub will draft notes for Attorney Lee Bragg, who will draw up a tentative agreement to be reviewed at 7 p.m. on Oct. 22 by Constantine, Walton, Mancine, Bob Pulsifer, Selectperson Wayne Timberlake and Administrative Assistant Kurt Schaub.

Walton’s daughter, Dominique Richardson, will also be included, at her request, as her parents are not in good health.

If an agreement is reached, it would still have to be ratified by the town, the board stressed.

This newest development follows a meeting on Sept. 20 at the site when establishing a bypass was suggested.

However, the town isn’t allowed to spend money on an easement road and road funds are in short supply as well, selectpersons explained.

“When we’ve got roads like we have in town, I couldn’t vote to build on an easement,” stated John Wakefield. “We’ve got 20 miles of roads that need rebuilding.”

In other business, Code Enforcement Officer Richard Marble reported on a junkyard complaint in the vicinity of the old Berry Hill store where what he described as a lot of stuff is stored around and in back of the buildings.

The board had ordered a cleanup in 1998 but included no ending date, Marble said. He was instructed to proceed with action on the complaint. “Five years has been long enough,” stated Chairwoman Grace Jacques.

Schaub reported on the town’s state valuation, which has increased from $113.15 million to $123.05 million, an 8.87 percent increase. By contrast, the amount carried on the town’s records is only $97.9 million.

According to the state, the present value of Livermore’s waterfront property is at 52 percent of market value and non-waterfront property is at 82 percent.

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