FARMINGTON – Work started Monday to erect a chain-link fence in the municipal parking lot to designate reserved spaces for tenants of William Marceau, the new owner of the Witt Bros. Rexall property.

“One woman parked on the easterly side of the parking lot had already backed into the new poles while I went to get gas for the generator,” fence installer Mark McKenna said. “They weren’t there this morning and she didn’t realize when she backed up.”

McKenna and Mark Richardson from Quality Fence Co. of Rumford began jack-hammering the frozen ground on Monday to place the larger poles. The poles extend one space beyond the spaces previously allotted for parking.

Signs will be added to the fence to indicate the spaces that will be reserved once the signs are up, he said.

Marceau appeared before the selectmen in late December to propose an exchange of public spaces for private spaces. Marceau’s property includes the first double row of parking closest to Broadway and the downtown shops. The Witt Bros. allowed people to use the spaces even after a contract with the town for plowing expired, Town Manager Richard Davis said prior to the meeting.

Marceau proposed swapping the spaces in the back of the parking lot, those located behind the post office, for the ones he owns in order to make it easier for the public to access the stores.

The exchange would have been the “use” of the private and public spaces but not ownership, Davis said.

The proposal caused concerns for selectmen over the town’s ability to plow and the legal costs associated with the agreement. The board wanted Marceau to pay the legal costs and then tabled the proposal until more information was available.

All agreed Marceau had the right to designate the spots as the property is now his.

After the meeting, Marceau decided to go ahead with his original plan to erect a five-foot, chain-link fence to indicate the spaces reserved for this tenants, he said Monday.