FARMINGTON — Expecting the slush on the sidewalk to freeze once temperatures dropped, George Lowell of New Vineyard worked to clear the area in front of Mooseville on Monday morning.

A few feet up Main Street, Java Joe’s Corner Cafe Manager Maria Stevens got some help from Assistant District Attorney James Andrews as she tried to find and open the drain for the water coming off Church Street.

The scene was repeated at other sites downtown as businesses dealt with the icy conditions.

Workers with the town’s Public Works Department were also attempting to keep drains open as some road flooding was reported on a few streets, including Front and Middle streets, Fairbanks Road and the Intervale, Farmington police secretary Rachel Heseltine said. 

Large puddles developed on other streets as the rain had nowhere to go but across the frozen icy ground.

The catch basins are covered with ice and slush, so they couldn’t handle the water, Public Works shop foreman Greg Soule said. There’s been no major problems, but the rain kept washing the sand off the road, he said.

Police reported few accidents by midmorning, but Farmington police were receiving calls about drivers going too fast and spraying water, Heseltine said.

“I think it’s more ice than what we received before,” Franklin County Emergency Management Director Tim Hardy said.

Hardy was not aware of any major flooding in the county. He said that although there are some power outages, it’s a lot fewer than other counties.

After a day of rain and fog, temperatures were expected to drop Monday night from the 40s to single digits.

When Lowell came down from New Vineyard at 4 a.m. Monday, Route 27 was “just a sheet of ice,” he said. He met only one other vehicle on the road, he said.

Lowell, who clears the sidewalks for about a half-dozen downtown businesses, was expecting to spend the day outside in the rain, which was heavy at times. He was taking it in stride.

“It has to be done,” he said.

abryant@sunjournal.com

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