MECHANIC FALLS — Residents of Riverside Drive will have to make their own arrangements to plow their road this winter.

On the town attorney’s advice, the Town Council on Monday decided against entering into an agreement with residents of the private road for the town to plow and sand it.

Riverside Drive resident Roger Guptill objected to the council’s decision, noting that if the residents couldn’t afford to have their road plowed and sanded, it could mean that emergency vehicles couldn’t make it in there.

“We pay taxes like everyone else,” Guptill said. “I want the Police Department down there like everyone else. It’s a safety issue.”

“I wish we could do everything for everyone, but state law says you can’t spend public money on private roads,” Councilor Cathy Fifield said.

Town Manager John Hawley explained that, according to the town attorney, the town could be sued for spending public funds on private property.

A few years ago, Riverside Drive residents approached the town for help with the upkeep of the road and a way around the prohibition against spending public funds on a private road was found: Grant the town an easement allowing public access and the town could plow and sand the road.

However, one effect of the easement was that the public gained access to Riverside Drive and that meant that the residents couldn’t decide who could and who couldn’t use their road.

This summer members of the Boghooters ATV club successfully petitioned the council to allow ATV vehicles to use town roads, and residents of Riverside Drive objected and said they would rather withdraw the access easement with the town if that could keep the ATV vehicles off their road.

“I think this is payback for us not wanting ATV access,” resident Nancy Guptill said.

Not so, said the council, it’s simply state law.

In other matters, Hawley reported that replacement parts for the wood pellet boiler that heats buildings in the municipal complex are now sitting in U.S. Customs in New York.

“I don’t know if the government shutdown is having anything to do with keeping them there, but we’re working on getting them released,” Hawley said.

He said engineers had examined the boiler and determined that the new parts should cure the problems that plagued the boiler last year and had come up with some modifications that should also make it more efficient.

Hawley was hopeful that the boiler would be up and running by next month, when heating season really kicks in.

“We really didn’t plan to be using oil and hopefully we won’t have to use too much,” Hawley said.

He also noted that the bid for winter salt had come in at $13 a ton less than last year — something that should save the town almost $8,000.