BUCKFIELD — The following action was taken by the Buckfield Board of Selectmen at the Sept. 17 meeting:

Paving bid

What happened: During the second round of bids, selectmen accepted the only bid that came in for paving of Darnit Road.

What it means: The bid was for $34,500 from All States Asphalt of Richmond, which includes fine grading. This will pave two roughly 400-foot sections of Darnit Road and will be completed this fall. “Dennis Spencer is the person who is going to actually lay it out,” said Town Manager Joe Roach about the asphalt. “He has done a lot of work for the town with good results.”

No straw poll

What happened: After a sometimes passionate discussion, selectmen opted not to put a straw poll on the Tuesday, Nov. 5 ballot regarding interest regarding referendum voting at town meeting.

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What it means: Chair Tina Brooks voted to have a straw poll and selectmen Dona Grant and Cheryl Coffman voted against. Grant and Coffman voted against because selectmen had previously discussed sending out a survey and including information and questions about referendum voting. The workshop on referendum voting, which was originally scheduled for Tuesday, was rescheduled for next month due to the automobile graveyard hearing that was held in its place Tuesday.

What’s next: The referendum voting workshop will be held at 6 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 8, at the Municipal Building, 34 Turner St. Survey details will also be discussed then and a public hearing on the General Assistance Ordinance amendments and regular selectboard meeting will follow.

Automobile Graveyard

What happened: After selectmen held a public hearing on an automobile graveyard, they issued a permit for RC Garage and Auto Salvage.

What it means: The automobile graveyard is owned by Richard Dobson and is on Townline Road. Town Manager Joe Roach said he received a couple of concerns about a few automobiles that were in the driveway leading into the facility. “He has agreed to make that invisible from the road going forward,” Roach said about Dobson and the vehicles. At Roach’s advice, selectmen to leave in the stipulation in the permit that no damage will be caused to the road, especially now that Town Line Road is being paved.

What’s next: The permit is in effect until Oct. 1, 2020.

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Old Church service

What happened: Selectmen were informed that Sharon Workman, an ordained minister and Buckfield resident, will “present a humorous and nonsectarian service” at the Old Church on the Hill at 2 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 20, at the church on High Street.

What it means: Prior to the service, the Old Church on the Hill Committee members will talk about the needs and progress of work on the historic building. The service will last for about an hour and include “two familiar hymns and joking between the minister and members of the congregation” and “end with a serious ‘love your neighbor’ type message,” according to a description of the event.

Easement

What happened: Selectmen voted for the town’s attorney to draw up an easement from abutters for a piece of land to access the back end of the town’s recreational field on Cross Road.

What it means: Roach said he could not find an easement for the town to use this piece of land and the abutters are more than willing to work with the town to create an easement.

What’s next: Roach will bring this back to selectmen at a future meeting.

Civics

What happened: Selectmen voted to have the education liaison to ask the administration of Buckfield Junior/Senior High School to see if there is any interested for students to selectboard meetings for lessons in civics for extra credit.

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