Town residents voice opinions on closure of roads during winter
By Ben Austin
Staff Writer
HODGDON – Selectmen for the town of Hodgdon held a special three-item public hearing on Monday regarding winter road closings for seasonal maintenance.
A small assembly of Hodgdon tax payers joined the selectmen in the town office to vividly voice their opinions of the town’s decision to shut down certain, lesser used, town roads during the winter months.
“I’d like to have some input on this, that’s all. My children still have to get on a bus and walk across the intersection … I just thought I could get an extra 20 feet so the kids can walk to the bus and not through a snow bank,” said resident Chet McNeil.
The selectmen listened and responded to all concerns that were voiced. Primarily, objections dealt with the idea that, due to the road closures, the town was withholding some rights that the taxpayers felt they deserve. One major concern was the availability of emergency services to the areas directly surrounding the closed roads.
“Nobody currently lives on these roads, or has houses on these roads that we are closing,” explained Town Manager Jim Griffin.
Residents also called for a shorter time period between the reviewing of the closed roads in the town. Previously the town has reviewed road closures every 10 years, but residents would like to shorten this number to five years.
“It has just always been 10 years. I’m fine with changing it to five years instead of 10. It gives those people who are going to do something on those roads an opportunity to come back and at least know that in five years it’s going to be reviewed regardless, without having to come in an ask for a special look at it,” explained Griffin in a phone conversation yesterday.
Any resident who has concerns about a closed road is able to request that Board of Selectmen revisit their decision one year after the date of the warrant. If the selectmen decide to refuse the issue, a petition containing seven signatures will force the board to open the matter for discussion.
The last sentence of Article 41 in Hodgdon’s annual report, which was signed on April 7, brought up some issues which were addressed at the meeting. A lawsuit was brought against the town, after the selectmen agreed that they would only consider altering road closings if the requesting party provided some of the necessary costs on construction of the road, after the town paid $2,000 per mile of the road. The legality of this article has been in question, and is proposed for change at the next town meeting.
The opinion of two residents, who were unable to attend the meeting, was given through a letter written to the board, which was read at the meeting.
“The town must accept their share of responsibility towards these roads and to its taxpayers. Any request to open a road for winter maintenance should be given fair consideration,” voiced Deborah and Tim Wynes, future residents of Hodgdon, in the letter read by Jim Griffin.
Selectmen explained that the winter road closing warrant was issued to save time as well as taxpayer money. According to Griffin, the town saves roughly $26,000 by not plowing these roads alone, which does not factor in the money that would be spent keeping the roads in good enough condition throughout the winter for plow trucks to travel on.
At the meeting, selectmen officially decided to close portions of ten town roads during the winter months November through April.
Selectmen slated a special town meeting for 7 p.m. Monday, August 5 at the Mill Pond Elementary School, which will include rescinding the former warrant and reshaping a new, more reasonable warrant.
All documents dealing with the subject of the proposed road closings are available at the Hodgdon town office.
