One resident complained about the chain of command for handling speeding in Bethel.

Another suggested the speed limit on one road should be raised.

Selectmen agreed that in both cases the best course of action was hands off.

At last week’s selectboard meeting resident Joe Hallowell said he had talked to Town Manager Jim Doar about people driving too fast in Bethel.

Doar referred him to Sheriff Wayne Gallant and the Oxford County Sheriff’s Department, which covers the town.

“I find it interesting that as a citizen of Bethel that I should have to go to the Sheriff’s Office to request the Sheriff handle the problem. I thought that’s what the selectmen did,” Hallowell said.

Doar said the town contracts with the OCSD for services, but he does not direct their day-to-day activities.

“We’re not going to play messenger,” he said.

Selectman Don Bennett agreed. “We don’t need to be messenger took many times before they kind of don’t listen to us,” he said.

Added Chairman Stan Howe, “How the speed limit is enforced is up to [Gallant].”

After hearing from Hallowell, selectmen next heard a report from Doar on a Paradise Road resident who had been stopped for speeding and believed the 25 mile per hour limit is too slow.

The resident said he had been stopped for doing 30, said Doar, and “his take on it was it was the unintended consequence of increased police activity on Paradise Road. Frankly this is the first time I ever had anybody ask for it to be raised.”

“Unbelievable,” said Selectman Pat Carter.

Doar said the resident did not have a suggested number for a new speed limit.

“He fully recognizes there are people up there who drive 60 who should be pulled over and put in jail,” added Doar.

Changing the limit would require a request to the Maine Department of Transportation, he said.

Doar said he had also heard from another two residents who felt 25 was “more than adequate.”

Howe was skeptical of changing it. “Most roads in town are 25 miles per hour,” he said. “Why should they get another speed limit?”

The board ultimately voted against pursuing a change.

Copy the Story Link