FARMINGTON — Franklin County commissioners are drafting emergency legislation that would require the state to take over maintenance of Byron Road in Township 6 North of Weld.
The pond at Tumbledown Mountain. Submitted photo
County Commissioner Tom Saviello of Wilton suggested the legislation. Commissioner Thomas Skolfield will work with Saviello on the draft. Both are former legislators.
The state owns most of the property on the road, including the trailheads for the state’s 10,400-acre Tumbledown Mountain managed by the Bureau of Parks and Land. A third of the road is in the unorganized township, a third in Weld and a third is in Byron in Oxford County.
The road was heavily damaged June 26, 2023, from heavy rains and flooding. The county had the larger holes filled with crushed stone and gravel, and the road was graded for over $12,000. More work was still needed.
The road was closed to through traffic with a caveat that people traveled it at their own risk.
In 2023, the county was hesitant to spend between $70,000 to $100,000 for repairs when there are no taxpayers who live along it, former Commission Chairman Terry Brann of Wilton said then.
County Administrator Amy Bernard asked the state to partner with the county to fix the road or for the state to take it over completely.
At the time, Bill Patterson, deputy director of the state Bureau of Parks and Land, said the state would not be interested in taking it over. However, they would be interested in helping the county draft specifications for bids or proposals to fix it.
Patterson said repairs could be done in phases and the money does not need to be spent in one year. He envisioned pitching in up to $5,000 a year for five years. He said the state and county could work on a three- to five-year plan, which commissioners agreed with. It’s not known if such a plan was ever made.
The road is mostly used by hikers and those who do maintenance on the mountain.
Commissioner Bob Carlton of Freeman Township said two years ago that the Bureau of Parks and Land could take over the road and make into a park or do something else with it.
“It really doesn’t make sense for the county to own that road. We don’t have any control of it,” Bernard said.
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