LISBON — Town councilors will ask residents to approve a $1.5 million road reconstruction project in November because councilors have concluded that simply repaving Pinewoods Road would not be money well spent.

For much of the year, the road is used by large, heavy trucks hauling more than a dozen loads per day from a gravel pit.

Repaving the road would cost $800,000. Rather than spend money on paving, the Department of Public Works recommended the town wait and do the job right.

“For me, I think $800,000 would be a waste of money, because it would get beat up again in about two or three years,” Public Works Director Randy Cyr told the council Tuesday night.

He said his crew is working to patch holes, but the situation might warrant a temporary skim coat that would better protect the road.

“Skim coat is just a gimmick to buy time,” Councilor Allen Ward said.

Cyr agreed.

The part of Pinewoods Road under consideration is about a mile stretch between a recently paved sewer replacement area and Cotton Road.

Resident in a trailer park on the road have petitioned the town to fix it, according to Town Manager Diane Barnes.

Cyr said the road was originally designed to mainly handle the trailer park traffic, which has a lot of residents in a small area, but it was not designed to handle the traffic from the gravel pit.

If approved by residents on the Nov. 5 municipal ballot, funds would be available in the spring, but payments on the bond would begin in 2021.

The council also held a lengthy discussion about proposed changes to the fee schedule and policies at the Lisbon Transfer Station, after councilors said a number of residents voiced varying
opinions about how to move forward.

At the May 21 council meeting, Cyr presented councilors with options, such as increasing the vehicle sticker fees and no longer taking commercial haulers’ waste due to the rising costs of handling waste and the need for more staff.

The council was asked to approve the changes in a first reading Tuesday, but some were concerned about making broad changes affecting many people on short notice.

“There’s a lot of good information, there’s a lot of good ideas,” Councilor Fern Larochelle said. “I just think that there needs to be a broader discussion. There’s a lot more work and due diligence as far as the information that needs to be put out there.”

Councilors decided to move forward with several fee increases but leave changes to the station’s policies, such as no longer accepting waste from commercial haulers, for further discussion.

Councilors also approved an amendment to the first reading of the fee schedule changes as follows:

• All stickers for the facility will be $25, including temporary permits, additional vehicles per household and businesses.
• Resident haulers will pay $1,000 for a permit to use the facility, and nonresident haulers will pay $1,500, up from $250 and $750, respectively.