LIVERMORE FALLS — Selectmen agreed to authorize the town manager to ink an agreement with the state Department of Transportation which allows the town to put up an informational sign, plant flowers and add a bench to Gateway Park.

The license agreement permits the town to add those features as long as they are placed behind a certain point, Town Manager Kristal Flagg said Monday.

The park, located at the corner of Route 4 and Main Street, greets motorists as they enter town via the Livermore Falls Memorial Bridge over the Androscoggin River.

The state widened Route 4 in that area when the road was reconstructed a couple years ago. Four or five years before that, the state had a building or two torn down to allow a wider turn radius at the traffic lights in order to better accommodate tractor-trailer trucks.

After the state allowed the town to use the lot in 2007, the Livermore Falls Downtown Betterment Group organized a beautification project the same year that changed the landscape into a welcoming area.

When the DOT did the road project in 2011 and 2012, the town removed the old granite they had put down so heavy equipment and materials could be parked or stored on the lot.

Now that the road work is done, Flagg said she lobbied the DOT to allow parking for Western Auto and Foss Jewelry, which lost parking spots when the state did away with parking on Route 4.

The state wouldn’t allow parking in the lot because it is such a busy intersection, Flagg told selectmen Monday.

But DOT will allow the town to beautify the area again, she said. The state still owns the property and doesn’t want to part with it, she said, but they will allow the town to mow it and take care of it.

Flagg will work with the Betterment Group to design the placement of the flowers, a bench and a new two-sided community bulletin board. The latter will be paid for by leftover funds from the downtown facade grant, she said. She is awaiting a return call from SignWorks of Farmington.

The town received a $150,000 Community Development Block Grant several years ago to help businesses improve their facades. Businesses needed to match the grant money each received.

Overall, about $190,000 was invested to renovate the business facades, including about $95,000 in grant money. Approximately $31,000 was spent on architectural, engineering and administrative services.

dperry@sunjournal.com