LISBON – Two major construction projects will take place on Route 196 next summer.

Selectmen have been given a schedule to replace the Sabattus River Bridge at the intersection of Frost Hill Avenue and the Little River Bridge on the Topsham-Lisbon town line.

Ben Foster, Maine Department of Transportation project manager, outlined the plans, which call for 12-foot driving lanes and 8-foot shoulders for both bridges.

The Sabattus River Bridge project carries a price tag of $2.1 million. Bids are to go out in a week, with construction to begin next summer and the first coat of paving by Oct. 15. The final paving will be done in the spring of 2005.

Little River Bridge will be widened but not moved. The $1.5 million project will go out to bid in December or January. Construction will begin next summer. Two lanes will be open “a majority of the time, except for a couple weekends,” Foster explained.

Selectmen, noting that Route 196 is heavily traveled during the summer, asked that any lane closings be coordinated with the town so that it would not interfere with the annual Moxie Festival in July.

They also asked that the contract not be given to an unidentified firm that the town has previously dealt with. Foster said that particular firm is on the state’s approved list, but took note of the request.

In other business, selectmen granted a request by Gordon Curtis of the local snowmobile club to spend $3,000 for repairs and upgrades to two snowmobiles that were purchased earlier this year. The town appropriated $15,000 for the purchase of two snowmobiles for trail grooming, however the club was able to purchase two used machines for $9,000. After repairs, this will still leave $3,000 in the account.

Tax Collector Betty Sigurdsson presented selectmen with a preliminary list of 53 properties that are on the Dec. 17 automatic tax foreclosure list due to unpaid tax. She noted some are for properties such as older mobile homes with little value. Some of these property owners have failed to apply for the $6,300 homestead exemption, which in some cases could have drastically reduced or eliminated their tax bill. Selectmen asked that she make an effort to inform them of the availability of the exemption. Town attorney Roger Therriault said the exemptions are not retroactive.

It was voted to go along with the recommendation of the Fire Truck Committee, as presented by Fire Chief P. Sean Galipeau, to spend $60,177 to refurbish Engine 9 and an additional $1,500 for a new pump for it.

Their vote came after Deputy Fire Chief Mike Robitaille told them “as a taxpayer, I have a hard time swallowing that pill.” He complained that he hadn’t been given as much advance notice as he had expected to offer a counter-proposal. His said he would get the town a used truck from a Mississippi firm “20 years newer” than Engine 9 for $68,000.

He failed to convince selectmen.

“I’ve got a lot of confidence in the Apparatus Committee and stand behind them,” board Chairman E. Charles Smith said. The board voted 5-0 for Galipeau’s proposal.