DIXFIELD – Selectmen voted unanimously Monday night to designate several municipally owned recreational areas as “drug-free safe zones.” That action would mean harsher penalties for people who were found guilty of dealing or selling drugs within 1,000 feet of the specified areas.
Town Manager John Madigan said the board took action under a new law recently passed by the state.
Those areas are: McGouldrick Park on Dix Avenue, Harlow Park on Weld Street, Marble Park on Coburn Avenue, Ludden Memorial Library on Main Street and the Little League ball field on the Severy Hill Road in East Dixfield.
Also on Monday, the board ratified Madigan’s appointment of Leo Jolin of Rumford as the town’s newest public works employee. Jolin, an employee at the Maine Department of Transportation for 14 years, replaces Dexter F. Frost, who retired last month after serving the town for nearly 44 years.
In other action, the board stood by payment of a bill to Roland Tyler for the delivery of 2,400 cubic yards of winter sand. A letter submitted to Madigan by Tyler asked for about $3,000 more than the figure the town had agreed to.
Also, the board entered into a closed session to begin union negotiations with the bargaining unit that represents the town’s six public works employees. Madigan said the most recent three-year contract expired July 1. Negotiations stalled when the union negotiator fell ill in summer. Both sides are now resuming work on the contract.
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