DOT wants to discontinue road in Upper Village
By Elizabeth Prata

New Gloucester--The New Gloucester Selectmen mean business, and with a lengthy agenda for their regular meeting on Monday, they did business for most of the evening.

The three page agenda came about because of the snow storms plaguing the town during March. The regular Selectmen meeting to have been held on February 28 was rescheduled for March 14, with all items for both meetings slated to be dispensed with at one fell swoop and no make-up meeting in between.

Depot Road driving torture

At citizen comments, Carl Wilcox of New Gloucester said that the .25 mile of Depot Road to the town line was absolutely torture to traverse. "I think it is an impediment to economic development when the welcome is to take out your transmission." He said that he knows it is a bad road so he takes it easy driving across. But "every official should drive it if only to feel the full impact."

That comment drew chuckles and Chairman Steve Libby directed Manager Rosemary Kulow to have the Public Works Director look at the road to determine if a letter to the Department of Transportation (DOT) is necessary. The portion under discussion is a state-maintained road.

Citizen Wayne Cobb remarked that "Depot Road is smooth compared to Woodman Avenue," and Vice-Chair Stephanie Bryant joked that she'd like to put in for a look-see of Rowe Station Road. The winter has taken its toll on all roads, town and state-maintained.

Road behind WIng's to be discontinued?

Another state maintained road under discussion was the portion of state road that extends off Rt. 4 behind Wing's Tank N Tummy. The road is somewhat parallel to Rt. 4 which intersects Rt. 4 about .12 mile north of the Upper Village St. and Peacock Hill Rd. and runs southeasterly, ending at the intersection of Rt. 4/Peacock Hill Road and Upper Village St. "The north .05 of the road , from the north intersection south to the end of the grass island" according to the DOT," it looks like a parking area for a convenience store, the town sand shed, the town garage, and the fire station."Below, the circular driveway in the photo's center is Mario's The roads crossing are Rt 100 and Peacock Hill Rd. The road under discussion is across from Mario's driveway and runs behind Wing's.

DOT's Deek Crowley, a member of the Bureau of Planning, wrote to the Code Enforcement Officer Debby Parks that "We recommend that the road be ended at the grass island .05 south of the north intersection because south of there it looks to be all parking lot and probably would be better addressed off Rt. 4. Note that 911 has no coverage for the road although there is a house about .03 south of the north intersection."

The Selectmen were not in favor of closing the road. Mr. Libby noted that since the state refused to pave the road town years ago, the town did it at their cost. Also, Mr. Libby said, the Zoning Committee is working on a re-visioning of the Upper Village and any road closures prior to their finalizing the plans would be premature. Ms. Bryant said that as a member of the Zoning Committee that she agreed that closing that road now would be premature. Mr. Libby directed the Manager to send a letter to Mr. Crowley explaining the Town's position.

Fairgrounds Improvements

The Fairgrounds were under discussion Monday night. The Youth Conservation Corps had appeared to request $2,000 from the Selectmen to aid their conservation work, much of which centers around erosion control and shoreland protection. Mr. Libby explained that all inter-agencies budget requests were reduced as a cost saving measure this year. The YCC request had been reduced to $1,350.

Lori Fowler of the YCC asked if there was any way to increase that figure. Mr. Libby said that it was possible, only if the money was taken out somewhere else in the budget. Also a concern was that the YCC was taken out of the Conservation Committee budget and put into Inter-agency because the Committee operates under the jurisdiction of the Selectmen, who dictate the work schedule. The YCC, Mr. Libby said, is its own agency, and if given the money it would not be appropriate for the Selectmen to dictate when and which projects to complete.

Ms. Fowler said that the YCC had prepared a preliminary work list and that since the Fairgrounds was part of the Royal River that the group had planned to accomplish they would be doing the bulk of the projects there.
Mr. Libby said that they could take the $750 from the Fairgrounds budget to complete the original $2,000 request. It was voted 4-0 to do that. (Selectmen Lynn Conger had an excused absence due to illness.)

The Fairgrounds will be seeded and fertilized this year as well, thanks to Mr. Wilcox. He had volunteered to review bid specs for both jobs and draft a bid for Selectmen to review. The bids for both jobs will go out this week.

Selectmen OK bargain rent to NG News

The New Gloucester News is housed on town property in the Library basement. Their lease was up for renewal and Manager Rosemary Kulow recommended that the lease be continued. Ms. Kulow said that it is "a non-profit venture that provides a public service to New Gloucester residents by informing them about local news, events, and potentially beneficial services."

Ms. Kulow said that she understood that the rent was below-market but the newspaper folks have painted and fixed up the space and made it habitable so she thought that was a value. Ms. Bryant asked if the News was a non-profit.

There are two non-profit types of corporations, tax exempt 501c-3 and corporations that are organized as a non-profit. The News is the second kind of non-profit corporation, although according to the Secretary of State's records the New Gloucester News's corporate status has been "Administratively Dissolved." The lease is for $75 per month and includes heat.

The Selectmen voted 4-0 to approve the lease for one year, with Ms. Bryant saying that she would like the New Gloucester News to cover their meetings.