HARTFORD – The road commissioner and the town’s sand supplier will work together to break up frozen stockpiles that has chilled relations between them.

Alan “Bim” McNeil had complained to selectmen recently that the material supplied by Maynard and Sons Trucking of Sumner this winter was inferior and hard to handle. He said he couldn’t even break up the sand with his bulldozer, it wouldn’t go through his screener, and he expected to run short because so much was unusable.

McNeil said the sand did the same thing last year.

“Why didn’t you say anything then?” asked contractor Maynard Farrar.

At Thursday night’s selectmen’s meeting, Maynard defended the quality of his product, saying his analysis showed it was coarser than the town’s assessment of it and not laden with clay as alleged.

Pam Farrar, his wife and co-worker, read letters from Sumner plowing contractor Cliff Lowe, Buckfield road Foreman Phil McAlister, Canton Road Commissioner Craig Gammon and state highway worker Robert Arris. All said this is one of the worst years ever for outside sand piles because of the heavy rain in December and bitter cold in January. Piles have been freezing, and crusting has been worse than ever, they said. They said they believe Hartford’s situation is no fault of the sand provider. Arris said he just finished breaking up the frozen sand chunks in the state pile at Canton on Jan. 27, Farrar told selectmen.

Farrar showed pictures of other sand piles in the area from different providers that have similar problems.

Selectman Lee Holman said she was concerned that the chunks of sand in the road would cause accidents, and she wondered who would be at fault.

One solution would be buying a scalper, a steel box with a grate on top used to break up frozen chunks of sand.

But Monica Mailly, assistant to selectmen, said the town didn’t have $3,900 for one.

Maynard said he would bring his excavator to the sand pile and break up the chunks.

McNeil said he would get his bulldozer and they could work together.

In other news, selectmen voted that any committee member must ask for town money in writing and get approval from the board before spending any.

Animal Control Officer Lianne Bedard said she heard from the state that the barn on Gurney Road should be able to house the horses by next week. Some people have been concerned about the animals having no shelter this winter.

Mailly, who is town clerk, said Oxford County is getting federal money to help pay for damage from snow and rain storms in December. A meeting will be held at 9 a.m. Feb. 11 at the Paris Fire Station with federal and state emergency management officials. The board hopes some of the $16,000 that was spent on road and culvert repairs can be reclaimed.

A tentative meeting with John E. O’Donnell & Associates on revaluation has been set for 6:30 p.m. Feb. 19.

Town elections will be held from noon to 8 p.m. Tuesday, May 19.