POLAND — The Board of Selectpersons voted Tuesday evening to extend the contract with Glidden Excavating and Paving of Gorham for one year to lock in the 2017 price.

Public Works Director Adam Strout said he and his crew have had “no problems with Glidden’s work, it’s good quality.” 

Strout called it “a good deal for the town. The price of everything is going up, so the locked-in price from last year is good. We would see an increase in price if we put this out to bid.” 

Tuesday’s meeting was the first for board members Suzette Moulton and Joseph Cimino.

“Welcome to the board,” Chairperson Walter Gallagher said. “I look forward to working with you.” 

The board appointed resident John Keil to the Community and Economic Development Committee and Stephanie Floyd to the Planning Board as an alternate. 

In other business, Town Manager Matthew Garside proposed a new streetlight request policy he thinks would be fairer than the current one. The new policy requires a resident to fill out a request form, have it evaluated by the code enforcement officer and taken to the Planning Board for review and approval. 

Now, a resident makes a request to the town manager, who assesses the need and brings a recommendation to selectpersons.

“This would have more checks and balances,” Selectperson Mary-Beth Taylor said. “It seems like a better, more inclusive way.” 

The selectboard agreed to move forward with the proposed policy change and scheduled the required public hearing for its next meeting at 7 p.m. May 1.

The board also scheduled a municipal complex hearing for 6:30 p.m. Thursday, May 10. 

“The public’s input is very important,” Gallagher said. “It would be nice to know what they’re thinking.” 

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