PERU — New Road Commissioner Brad Hutchings told selectmen Monday night that roads will no longer be paved in the fall as they have been in recent years.
This year, paving will happen during the summer months.
“The (repaired roads) need that summer heat,” Hutchings said. “No more paving in October or November. We’re done with that.”
Hutchings said he will create a comprehensive plan for roads. He was complimented by several citizens at the meeting on his efforts.
Hutchings informed the Board of Selectmen that work to pave East Shore Road will begin July 31, and he hopes it will be done by the end of August.
In other business, Town Clerk Vera Parent gave the board a rough estimate of what the town’s property taxes might look like if the latest Regional School Unit 56 budget is approved by voters.
According to Parent, the tax rate could go from $18.60 per $1,000 of assessed value to a little over $20. Parent stressed, however, that the figures are not set in stone.
“It could be more, it could be less,” Parent said.
A meeting and initial vote on the budget is set for July 27 at the school. A vote to validate the $12.5 million budget is set for Aug. 8 at polling stations in the RSU 56 towns of Dixfield, Carthage, Canton and Peru.
The selectmen received a report from the State Fire Marshal’s Office concerning the Friends of Peru Elementary building, which was shut down after a resident’s complaint in May prompted an inspection.
The report observed the lack of a hood, duct or extinguishing system in the kitchen, improper or missing hand and guardrails for stairways and inoperative emergency lights, among other things.
The building also requires a permit from the fire marshal’s office to change its occupancy from education to multiuse community center.
“It is recommended that the town retain the services of a design professional to make the proper submittable changes they would like to have for their building,” according to the report.
Selectmen did not decide what course of action to take.
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