Rangeley: Officials: Road fix a safety thing’

RANGELEY – Officials defended improvements to the Dodge Pond Road in the face of residents’ concerns at a recent selectmen’s meeting.

“Why such a massive undertaking?” resident Bill Booker asked. He wanted to know why so much work was being done on a road used by only three year-round residents. “Who approved this? Who pays?” he asked.

Town Manager Perry Ellsworth explained that no federal money was involved in the $150,000 project, which was “part of the budgetary process started last year before I came here.”

Explaining why the construction was taking place, Road Foreman Everett Quimby said, “There are environmental concerns with spring washouts going into the pond. This project will improve the drainage, put proper ditching in place, straighten a dangerous curve and remove a hill. It’s a safety thing,” he said.

Residents voiced their hopes that the road will remain gravel and that trees lost or damaged will be replaced by the town. Ellsworth said the paving decision has not yet been made.

Paris: Skate park plans discussed

OXFORD – Full pipes, half-pipes, bowls, steps and trannies were just a few of the technical terms tossed around as a skate park design was considered for Paris.

A handful of local skateboarders and bikers were present at the Skate Park Planning Committee meeting, where designer Wally Hollyday of California Skateparks presented his ideas.

“We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us so we can get (the park) built,” Hollyday told the crowd before showing pictures of parks his company has built around the country.

For Paris, he suggested a park that would cost $177,000. Through the donation of materials, equipment and labor, the committee may be able to build the park for as little as $70,000, he said.

The park, Hollyday said, should be a place for skateboarders and bikers as well as “someplace where parents can hang out and watch what their kids are doing, and a place where your friends who don’t skate can watch what you’re doing.”

Oxford: Vacancy may prompt vote

OXFORD – Now that Michael Thompson has quit the Board of Selectmen, the remaining selectmen must decide whether to call an election to fill his seat.

Selectmen are not required to hold a special election before the annual town meeting next June, but they have the option of doing so. The election could be held Nov. 2, according to legal advice the town received from the Maine Municipal Association.

Thompson had nine months to go on his term when he walked out of a recent meeting. Selectmen are expected to formally vote to accept his resignation.

Thompson quit the board once before this year, but he reconsidered his decision and was allowed back.

Livermore: Town gets grant for new firetruck

LIVERMORE – Livermore Fire Department is one of several in Maine to share in $1.2 million from the Department of Homeland Security, Maine senators announced. The funds are part of the Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program.

Livermore’s share will be $202,500, which Chief Randy Berry wants to use for a tanker-pumper to replace the department’s current 1967 tanker. The local share will be $22,500 which the town has already approved.

Because of its poor condition, Berry has already taken the old pumper out of service, as he was afraid it was not safe to use. One of the aims of the grant is to get firefighting vehicles older than 1979 off the road, he explained.

“Firefighters die driving those,” he said of the old tanker, which was built from an oil tanker on a Department of Conservation chassis back when his uncle, Carlton Berry, was chief.