LIMESTONE, Maine – Limestone Select Board members voted 4-to-1 Wednesday to continue having the town manager serve as road commissioner instead of hiring someone new.
Last month, board chairperson Randy Brooker expressed concerns about whether interim manager Alan Mulherin’s eventual replacement would be qualified to handle road supervision.
Per the town’s bylaws, the manager has typically served as road commissioner to give direction to the highway foreman and report to the Select Board on major road projects and issues.
But other board members worried that anyone willing to take on the job would want to get paid rather than volunteer, adding more expenses to the town. Highway foreman Spencer Keiser also disapproved of the idea.
“I do not agree [with hiring another road commissioner],” board member Irma Labreck said Wednesday. “If we have a foreman who knows what they need to do and when, we don’t need someone else.”
In related news, Mulherin announced that Keiser resigned his position as highway foreman on Tuesday, effective immediately. Keiser did not give a reason for his resignation, Mulherin said.
The Select Board also voted unanimously to postpone deciding on the fate of the current public works garage on Burleigh Avenue.
The public works department will be relocating to 72 Long Road in early 2025 after the town purchases the former Caldwell’s Auto mechanical repair shop. Residents approved the purchase this fall after learning that the current garage lost its collapse insurance due to extensive structural issues.
Select Board members debated whether to continue insuring the building to use for storage or eventually tear it down.
“We already told people we weren’t going to use the building. The new building has everything we need [for storage],” said board member Troy O’Bar.
The board agreed to allow Mulherin to gather estimated prices for the building’s potential demolition or future upkeep and decide on the best avenue prior to the annual town meeting in June.
Board members also voted 3-to-2 against making a $763 donation to LifeFlight of Maine, a nonprofit air ambulance service that transports critical care patients to hospitals further from their home.
Mulherin recommended the donation and said that LifeFlight based the amount on Limestone’s most recent U.S. Census population – 1,526 people as of 2020 – at a 50-cent per capita rate.
Brooker broke a tied vote among the board by voting against the donation.
“It’s a good case, but I’d like to see if an organization like Rotary [Club] can fund it,” Brooker said. “We don’t have much money, and I don’t want to see us spend money unless we have to.”
