By Jen Otterson,Staff Writer

NORWAY – Selectmen discussed a wide range of issues Thursday, and Les Flanders had a lot to say to his fellow selectmen.

“It’s disgusting,” Flanders said of paving work on Beal Street. “I think they did all right to start with, but the finishing work is terrible.”

He said Beal Street, which was reconstructed and repaved last year, is already full of potholes and patchwork.

“I can’t believe they would be proud of that project,” he said of K and K Excavating of Turner, which did the work. “Real poor workmanship,” he called it, although he noted that work on Pearl Street was well done.

In a telephone interview Monday, K and K Excavating Vice President Clay McLafferty said the company has not yet done the final walk-through for the Beal Street project. He said he was aware of some issues that had arisen with subcontractor Pike Industries. “Obviously, we’re going to address any issues” before the project is complete, McLafferty said. “We don’t leave there till everyone is happy.”

Flanders also had something to say about the Oxford Hills Growth Council.

“They promised us movement on the C. B. Cummings mill this summer and the Odd Fellows building,” he said. Since no apparent work has been done on either building, Flanders asked Town Manager David Holt to send a letter to the council addressing the town’s concerns.

Holt said the council said this week that it plans to do work on the front and first floor of the Odd Fellows building. It also recently announced a grant to remove asbestos from the Cummings mill. The grant must be reviewed, though, so the council can only do work on the mill parking lot this summer. In addition, he said, “They may have progress in those areas that they don’t choose to talk about at this time.”

Selectman George Tibbetts agreed with Flanders that “there should be some signs of improvement” at the two sites.

In other business, Holt told the board that Edie Guyer of Responsible Pet Care had planned to attend the meeting to ask for town assistance with the cat spaying and neutering clinic. Since she was absent, Holt asked the board for permission to donate $100 to the clinic from the town’s animal control fund. He admitted that the sum wasn’t much, but “it was all I could think of without having to go to town meeting.”

Selectman William Damon offered to match the funds if the town awarded them. The board agreed to the donation, although Flanders and Selectman Russell Newcomb wondered how far it would go.

“It may be time to start licensing cats if they’re such a problem,” Flanders said.

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