FARMINGTON — Franklin County road supervisor Mike Pond of Strong advised commissioners Tuesday that when he took the job he was told it would be about eight hours a week.
He is lucky, he said, if it is just eight hours a day with the work needed on bridges and roads in the unorganized territory. His salary was set at $10,000 a year plus mileage when he was hired.
Franklin County road supervisor Mike Pond updates county commissioners Tuesday on bridge and road conditions. Donna Perry/Sun Journal
Pond told commissioners mats were installed in November as a temporary bridge top over a deteriorating span on the dead-end Calvin Gray Road in Madrid Township. A new precast bridge is being made and will be installed next spring.
There were two residences beyond the bridge and the span was posted with a three-ton weight limit. There is a resident who is on hospice care and an ambulance could not go over the bridge, he said.
Pond said he was required to bring in an engineer to rate the load weight on the bridge. There are no weight restrictions on it now so it’s no longer posted.
He also told told commissioners there was a washout on Weymouth Road in Freeman Township, near where routes 145 and 142 meet. They had to reconstruct the shoulder and part of the travel lane on the dirt road, he said.
Heavy rains, snow and winds recently knocked down a lot of trees in the area and left a couple stranded on Fish Hatchery Road in Salem Township, Pond said. The road was blocked for about four days. They couldn’t do anything with the trees because power lines were entangled in them. On the fourth day Central Maine Power Co. was called again and responded.
“We removed four pulp truck loads of trees,” he said. Tyson Chase of Strong, who has a family business and the county snow plow contract for Madrid Township, does wood cutting on the side. He was hired to help remove the trees.
Pond also called on county Emergency Management Agency Director Tim Hardy for assistance.
Pond told commissioners he was not going to continue at this pace.
“It is a lot more than I anticipated,” he said. “I didn’t want a full-time job.”
Pond has his own business, Pond Excavating.
He also informed commissioners there are more bridges that need to be replaced. There is a grant opportunity for the county that would help pay for work.
“You are doing a great job trying to get the county where it ought to be,” Commissioner Clyde Barker of Strong said. He has been getting calls from people who are very happy with work Pond has been doing on the roads, he said.
Since Pond has taken over the job, “the feedback has been really amazing,” Commissioner Charles Webster of Farmington said.
Pond was hired in September to replace former road agent Jerry Haines of Avon who left the position in August.
“I appreciate what you are doing,” Webster said. “I am sure you will be compensated at some point.”
Webster term expires Dec. 31, and he did not seek reelection.
Commissioners and Pond are expected to continue the discussion about the job and compensation in the new year.
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