Minot selectmen

Met: Monday Night

Dangerous intersection

Issue: The intersection of Center Minot Hill Road and Woodman Hill Road (Route 119) has been the scene of numerous traffic accidents.

Scoop: Past efforts to alert motorists traveling on Center Minot Hill Road, headed toward West Minot, of the need to stop when they come to Woodman Hill Road have not been entirely successful. Selectmen have long argued that stop signs are insufficient persuasion as evidenced by the regularity with which drivers manage to find themselves deep in a ditch on the far side of Woodman Hill Road, and now report that they have received a letter from the state Department of Transportation indicating its intent to reconfigure the intersection.

Appointments

Issue: Each March the terms of roughly a third of the town Budget Committee expire and selectmen are charged with either reappointing them or finding suitable replacements.

Scoop: Selectmen reappointed Edward Haley Jr., Karen Nichols and Brad O’Connor to new, three-year terms on the committee. Christopher Woodford was named an alternate member.

Winter roads

Scoop: Road Manager Arlan Saunders reported that two weeks ago he again ran short of sand and had to purchase another 300 cubic yards. Had the winter been “normal,” Saunders figures the 4,000 cubic yards he bought in October should have sufficed. The latest haul, he said, brought the winter total to 7,000 cubic yards. Saunders also said that all of the washouts from the storm two weeks ago have been temporarily repaired and that by midweek a crew will have placed gravel on some remaining rough dirt roads.

Road engineering

Scoop: Selectmen met with Michael Walsh of Summit Environmental Consultants to review services and charges that his firm provides. For the past few years the town has contracted with Summit to make sure that developers build subdivisions according to plans that the Planning Board has approved, and build any new roads according to town specifications. While the town hires Summit to conduct oversight, the town pays for those services from fees it charges the developer.

Up Next: Selectmen will send a letter to the Planning Board with recommendations for what the developer of The Village Wood Estates should put into escrow to pay for inspection.

Lake Auburn watershed

Scoop: Selectmen appointed Steve French to serve as the town’s representative on the Lake Auburn Watershed Commission Board of Directors.

– Winslow Durgin