JAY — Selectpersons tabled action Tuesday on installing a temporary bridge on an access way to Hutchinson Road because the Federal Emergency Management Agency requires two bids for the project.

Town Manager Shiloh LaFreniere said she has received one offer for a bridge, and the company viewed the road last week and said it would work.

If LaFreniere gets the information needed before the Oct. 23 meeting, the board could hold a special meeting to vote on the project.

LaFreniere said she still doesn’t know what the Maine Department of Environmental Protection and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will require for permits.

Town officials are concerned that the temporary access road, which was built after heavy rains and flash flooding washed out a section of Hutchinson Road on June 29, might not make it through to next spring.

The town needs to repair Hutchinson Road next year, and if the bridge is used to span the washout it would have to be moved, LaFreniere said.

The access road was built on Jerry Hutchinson’s property so residents who live beyond there could get to their property.

There are nine people who live beyond his house, including five children, Hutchinson said.

He said the town will need to plow the access road with a pickup truck because it’s too narrow for a full size plow truck.

He asked if the fire rescue chief had been able to get a firetruck up there.

It was unknown if he had.

Hutchinson also suggested the town use more than a plastic sawhorse to block the washout coming down the hill on Hutchinson Road.

It gets icy and a vehicle could end up in the hole, an unidentified resident of the road said.

Hutchinson also asked what his liability would be if someone is hurt or something else happens.

LaFreniere said she would check on it.

He said he has left all the debris, including coolers and a 7-foot culvert, that landed in his yard during the flash flood.

LaFreniere said part of the FEMA program is debris removal and FEMA requires that it be weighed.

She said repairs on Woodman Hill Road, which was also heavily damaged, are expected to be completed by Sunday. Once the contractor removes its equipment, the road will be reopened. She said she is hoping that all necessary paving will be done before the end of the year.

Hutchinson and the residents of the road thanked LaFreniere and the board for everything done so far.

She also said she doesn’t expect there to be temporary access through Macomber Hill Road before winter. It has a huge washout that is too big for a temporary access bridge.

Begin Road has temporary access and it’s expected to hold up through the spring.

The town crew has also done some temporary repairs to stabilize the sewer line that runs beside the multiuse trail. They will also be looking at fixing the sewer line that runs in a ditch beside state Route 4 on Jay Hill.

After the storm in June, they had a camera go through the line and it ran into an obstruction, LaFreniere said, which they plan to fix.

About 1,300 feet of sewer line was washed out during the storm.

Selectperson Lee Ann Dalessandro thanked residents for their patience.

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