MEXICO — If all goes as planned, this town’s next road, sewer and water construction project will begin late this spring.

Selectmen on Tuesday authorized Town Manager John Madigan to apply for a $500,000 federal Community Development Block Grant that would go toward a $1.3 million road, sewer and water project for Alder and South Main streets.

“This would be a major reconstruction and major rebuild,” he told selectmen and a handful of residents at Tuesday’s public hearing. “There’s a lot of work going into this because of the steepness.”

In addition to the CDBG funds, $100,000 each would come from the sewer and water districts, and $612,000 would come from the town’s bond.

The application must be submitted by March 9. Madigan said he expects to hear whether the town is successful by the end of the month.

The town has already had several streets reconstructed for water, sewer and highway work, including Osgood Avenue.

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Madigan displayed a cast-iron pipe pulled from Osgood Avenue showing a great amount of mineral deposits that restrict flow. He said most pipes in the town are around a century old.

In other matters, the board delayed action on granting a trailer park license for Brandy Pond LLC. Code Enforcement Officer David Errington advised the board against granting the license because of sewage leaking toward a nearby brook.

“I told the owner to fix it immediately,” Errington said.

When the violation is rectified, the board will again consider the trailer park license application.

The board also directed the Planning Board to devise a question to be put on the town meeting referendum ballot regarding the sale and use of fireworks.

Once the Planning Board has written such a question, a public hearing will be held.

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“I think it should go to the people in June,” Selectmen Chairman Richard Philbrick said,

Also on Tuesday:

* A public hearing on the proposed use of Poplar Hill, Thompson Hill, Leavitt Street, Riverside Avenue, Dix Avenue and Holman Avenue by all-terrain vehicles was set for 6 p.m. March 13.

* The Planning Board will begin an update on land use, license and permit fees. Selectman Reggie Arsenault said fees have remained the same since the early 1990s.

* The second half of town property taxes are due, without penalty, on March 2.


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