NEWRY — Selectmen on Tuesday signed a contract for road repairs and another for sealing cracks on a section of Sunday River Road and in the Bear River Grange Hall parking lot.
Selectmen also decided when they should get paid, after Administrator Loretta Powers read a resident’s complaint about the matter.
Bethel contractor D.A. Wilson was hired to do summer road repairs for $23,000.
Rhino Seal of Mexico will crack-seal pavement in the Grange Hall parking lot, which hasn’t been sealed since 2010, and on a section of Sunday River Road from Skiway to Monkey Brook roads. That contract was for $5,829.
At a previous board meeting, Selectman Brooks Morton suggested that selectmen get paid the first week in June, Powers said. Selectmen are paid a total of $5,500 a year, which is $1,375 each quarterly, she said.
A resident, who also is a town employee, objected to the board being paid that first week in June, stating in the letter that they would be getting paid before they earned the money.
Selectmen Chairman Wendy Hanscom said she didn’t want to be paid the first week of June, especially if she doesn’t get re-elected at the polls on Tuesday, June 10.
“If you resign, you have to pay it back,” Hanscom said to Morton and Selectman Gary Wight.
Jokingly, she added, “If you drop dead, we’ll bill the estate.”
Historically, selectmen have been paid quarterly in April, July, October and December.
The board decided their paychecks would arrive with the first payroll of the month after a quarter ends, except for December. That will be on the first payroll in December.
In other business, estimates will be sought to construct two lean-to type buildings to house sand and salt — one for the Bear River side of the valley and one for the Sunday River side.
“This might be more than what we have for funds for this year,” Morton said. “It wouldn’t hurt to ask a couple of contractors.”
The board also asked Powers to look into Newry’s recreational account to learn if there is money to give scholarships for Newry children ages 8 to 12 to attend a Kids’ Adventure week at Bethel Outdoor Adventure & Campground along Route 2.
Powers read a letter from campground co-owner Jeff Parsons about the program. This year’s sessions are July 28 to Aug. 1 and Aug. 4-8.
She said the camp is “a fun-filled, weeklong program designed to teach basic and advanced canoeing and kayaking skills in a fun and active adventure.”
They are seeking donations for scholarships, Powers said. Bethel provides scholarships for its children.
“If kids want to go play outdoors for a week, I have no problem with that,” Hanscom said. “I didn’t even know we had a camp available.”
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- Work resumed this week to repair the top of the chimney on the Bear River Grange Hall in Newry, while selectmen seek estimates for a furnace.
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