LIVERMORE – Selectpersons have received a request from a Heroes of Woodstock concert organizer in conjunction with law enforcement to close a portion of River Road to through traffic for two hours on Aug. 9.

Concert organizer Michael Shea estimated previously that there could be 20,000 or so people in attendance.

The select board will hold a public hearing at 6:30 p.m. June 29 at the town office on the request from Shea, pursuant to a traffic plan for the Woodstock event, board administrative assistant Kurt Schaub said.

The board will also take up applications for a catering privilege liquor license for a beer tent on July 3, 4 and 5, at the public hearing, submitted by Daniel A. Coyne/Little Dan’s BBQ Inc. in Lewiston and sponsored by the John F. Murphy Homes.

The beer tent would be operated from 11 a.m. to midnight, in conjunction with the David Stone/Johnny Cash Experience event to be held over the holiday weekend at the Barnyard All Terrain park on Route 108, which is also being organized by Shea.

Parking will be at the park for that event, Schaub said.

However, Shea has requested that a lower portion of River Road, about a 1 mile stretch, from the intersection of Strickland Ferry Loop to Route 108 be closed to through traffic from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 9, for traffic control purposes for the Woodstock concert.

Organizers are using a field at the end of River Road for overflow parking from Barnyard All Terrain during the concert, Schaub said.

They want traffic to leave the parking area and head back onto Route 108 when the concert is over, he said.

“They don’t want to put concert traffic northbound (toward Livermore Falls) on River Road,” Schaub said. Southbound traffic on River Road will be open only to local residents of that area.

They don’t want people traveling up River Road, he said, because the road wasn’t built to handle the number of vehicles expected.

Schaub said he spoke to a representative of the Maine Municipal Association and the select board has the authority to close a road for this purpose.

The board is not required to hold a hearing on the closure, he said, but selectpersons want to because it is the first request for a temporary road closing for an event.

Concert organizers have met on two occasions with representatives of the town, Maine State Police, Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Department and Livermore Fire Department to discuss plans for traffic and other public safety concerns.

An initial meeting on June 2 also included representatives of the Maine Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the State Fire Marshal and NorthStar Emergency Medical Services, Schaub said.

The reason DHHS was involved was because representatives had heard there might be camping on private, residential property, Schaub said.

Representatives advised if residents plan to have camping on their property and charge for it, they would need to have a temporary campground license, he said.

Those licenses are issued by the department and representatives plan to be in the area to see that those license requirements are met, Schuab said.

There is no town requirement but there is a state requirement for a license, he said.

“One of my concerns was that people might see an opportunity to make money and we don’t want them to get into any trouble,” Schaub said.