LIVERMORE FALLS – Selectmen reappointed Margaret Leclerc to the Livermore Falls Water District’s Board of Trustees Monday night, a routine item, but one which generated lively discussion.

Selectman Bill Demaray asked board members if they had read an article in the March issue of “Maine Townsman,” a publication for municipal leaders, about utility consolidation.

Apparently some towns are looking at bringing quasi-municipal water districts under their direct control rather than turning the operation over to trustees whom they appoint but over whom they have no control.

Chairman Bernal Lake agreed. “It’s like the library, we have no control over how they spend their money.”

The other board members also agreed, noting that the amount charged for hydrants, reportedly $180,000 a year, was excessive, that the district has more than doubled its staff in recent years, buys too many new trucks and has money squirreled away. Copies of the article were distributed to the board for further review.

In other business the liquor license, pool table and special amusement permits for Riverview Pub were approved after a brief public hearing.

The board was preparing to vote to discontinue Pasture Lane in East Livermore when the owner of the only house on the road spoke. Jacqueline Trafton explained that the town had not maintained the road since she bought the place four years ago and had only plowed it three times this year.

“Why should I pay to plow it?” she asked, noting that she had purchased the property with the understanding that it was a town road.

Trafton also mentioned the $2,100 she pays annually in taxes receiving in return only a plowed road. “I’m always last on the plowing list and I’ve never complained,” she said. “It may be my driveway, but it’s a town road.”

Noting that she had made a good case for continued maintenance, Selectman Russ Flagg withdrew his motion, so the order of discontinuance will not be taken to town meeting June 9.