FARMINGTON — On Tuesday, Selectmen scheduled a special town meeting at which voters will consider spending up to $15,000 to fix a sewer drain problem at the Municipal Building and making a change to the Board of Appeals ordinance.

The town meeting will take place at 6:30 p.m. on August 27 in the downstairs meeting room at the Municipal Building.

A connecting line from the Municipal Building to the sewer line has plugged frequently, causing sewage to back up into the building, Town Manager Richard Davis told the board.

Workers from the Ted Berry Company Inc. put a camera through the line from the parking lot to the street. At 70 feet, they found an obstruction of impacted roots, he said. Once cleaned out, they discovered that a section of the line is broken and needs to be replaced and lined in order to seal the joints.

A quote from the company to install the liner is $4,975 and a quote for excavation work by E.L. Vining and Son, Inc. is $8,207 with an additional $650 quote for a pavement patch to cover the excavated hole afterwards.

Voters will be asked to approve use funds from the undesignated balance, now called Unassigned Fund Balance, which had a total of $1.7 million as of the end of 2012, Davis said.

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Voters will also be asked to approve a change in an ordinance that would allow the Code Enforcement Officer, rather than the Appeals Board, to grant a variance to make a dwelling accessible to a person with a physical or mental handicap.

A recent change in state laws allows municipalities to consider the change, Davis said.

In other business, the board scheduled a special board meeting for Tuesday, August 20, to award the bid for the Whittier Road and Sandy River bank stabilization project.

“We’re under a tight deadline,” Davis said of the need for the meeting.

Bids will be opened Monday, Aug.19. The work needs to be completed, or at least the lower portion near the water needs to be done, by Sept. 30, he said.

The board agreed to meet at 6 p.m. Aug. 20 at the town office to consider awarding the bid.

Davis reported that the Lac-Megantic Relief Fund now has more than $25,800 with municipalities and private citizens contributing. Donations can be made at any TD Bank.

The board unanimously approved adding Betty Jespersen to the Budget Committee before going in to an executive session to discuss a potential candidate for employment as the new Wastewater Superintendent.

abryant@sunjournal.com


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