BETHEL – Vernon Street in Bethel will lose its designation as Route 35 after a poorly attended public hearing on the matter Monday. Lover’s Lane will add the Route 35 designation to its existing Route 5 designation.

Routes 35 and 5 have until now separated near Hunt’s Corner in Albany Township. Route 5 continues north from that point and comes into Bethel as Lover’s Lane. Route 35 left Route 5 in a northeasterly direction and entered Bethel east of the center of town as Vernon Street. The routes will now stay together in Albany Township and terminate near Brown’s Mobil on Route 2.

Norman Hagan, Maine Department of Transportation’s regional manager, told selectmen that Route 5 is “a much more relaxed highway than any other way to get here.” Route 35 starts in Kennebunk. Hagan said there had been talk of ending in Waterford.

Selectmen were in favor of the change, although Selectman Harry Dresser Jr said, “I’m a little concerned that we’ve had a public hearing and the public wasn’t notified.”

Town Manager Scott Cole apologized for not advertising the hearing.

One resident attended hoping to discuss the intersection of Parkway and Route 2. That intersection was not discussed Monday, but will be the subject of another public hearing in December.

Selectmen also addressed possible improvements to the Sunday River Road. MDOT has asked the town to consider funding 33 percent of a $450,000 project to fully reconstruct a section of the road. Selectmen authorized Cole to sign a letter which affirms the town’s commitment to “making reasonable efforts to secure funding.” Voters will make the final decision on the project at next year’s town meeting.

Cole told selectmen that Swasey Excavation was the low bidder on the Davis Park project to stabilize the riverbank and other work. He said funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency is “the only variable,” noting that hurricane damage in Florida may have taken precedence for financing. No contracts will be signed for the project until a special town meeting has been held and FEMA funds have been secured.

Selectmen supported most of a proposal from Cole for reorganizing the Airport Authority. Cole’s recommendation of a committee of three members who are Bethel voters was supported by selectmen, although Mike Murphy of the committee said he would prefer to have three aviators and one other resident on the committee.

The board did not approve of Cole’s suggestion that the committee should have monthly, or less frequent, meetings with the town manager. Dresser, in particular, felt strongly that “whatever it takes to get business done is the number of meetings we have to have.”

Cole was asked to rewrite his proposal with the board’s input in mind. The board also expressed its appreciation of the airport authority’s work.

In other business, Fred Nolte was appointed to the ad hoc lodging committee, leading Dresser to comment that the committee now has “two parties of each camp.” Dresser was appointed the fifth “dispassionate” member of the committee.