FARMINGTON — Selectmen unanimously agreed Tuesday to provide Linkletter Trucking with a permit to haul logs over Fyfe Road — off Routes 2 and 4 near Hannaford — while roads are posted for weight limits.
The company must put up a $100,000 bond to cover potential damage to the road.
Linkletter is working on a 200-acre lot that stretches from beside the Maine Department of Transportation maintenance building on Fyfe Road to Titcomb Mountain ski hill in West Farmington, company representative Scott Bubier said.
Fyfe Road is off Route 2, also known as the Wilton Road, and is across from Subway, next to the Celebrations Unlimited Party supply store.
Roads are posted at 23,000 pounds, but the Board of Selectmen can waive the weight limit, Town Manager Richard Davis said.
Maine Municipal Association recommended the town ask for a bond that would cover the full cost of any damage, not just surface damage, he said.
After Public Works Director Denis Castonguay reviewed the road and estimated the cost to rebuild it if anything should happen, the $100,000 bond was requested.
Selectman Ryan Morgan, who lives near the road, said part of it already has some damage. He questioned Bubier about trucks accessing the heavily traveled Wilton Road.
Just before reaching Fyfe Road, traffic traveling west picks up speed. The zone changes from 30 mph to 40 mph on a curve before the road’s entrance.
Selectmen and Bubier agreed that signs should be posted to warn drivers of trucks entering the road.
In other business, Davis told the board that the town is still waiting for MDOT to fix the lights on Center Bridge, which have been out because of a frozen junction box in the sidewalk.
MDOT wants to be sure the wiring is thawed without damaging the aging wire. That means they will have to wait for it to thaw naturally.
The department said it had a similar issue with a ramp in Gardiner, where mice have nibbled at the wires, Davis said. MDOT is considering whether mice could be an issue on the Farmington bridge, too.
The junction box is in the sidewalk and has a secure cover, but water apparently found a way into the box. Although temperatures have been quite mild over the past few weeks, ground temperatures are still pretty cold, Davis said.
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