LIMESTONE, Maine — Town officials held a public hearing on Sept. 19 on a proposal to stop snow plowing four roadways during the months of November to April.
The roads discussed were the Bourgoine Road, Philbrick Road, Knights Corner Road, and the roadway that leads into Trafton Lake. Nobody lives on the roads and no one spoke against the measure.
Limestone resident Melissa Devoe asked if cross-country skiers would still have access to Trafton Lake during the winter months.
Selectboard Chair Tom Albert said the board members had discussed this and that “for the last couple years” the road to the lake hasn’t been plowed anyway. Fire Chief Jon Poitras added that the town has not been grooming the trails in that area.
Interim Town Manager Tom Stevens also asked if town employees plowed into the Bourgoine Road past a potato house structure, and Albert said that, in the past, workers have plowed down the road past that structure and then turned around.
Devoe added that, legally, the owner of that potato house has to have access to the structure.
Stevens suggested that the ordinance be reworded to clarify that while the Bourgoine Road would be closed, its lone property owner would still have access to his building.
Stevens also clarified that if the proposal passed, the town would have the authority to close the four roads during the winter months “in the absence of a town meeting vote.” Also he said that “statute allows” winter closure to continue for “up to a 10 year period.”
However, the decision could be changed if it were revisited during a subsequent town meeting should officials determine that keeping a particular road open would be in the best interest of the town.
Stevens said after the meeting that while the issue does not need to be brought up during the annual town meeting, he would add a provision to the proposed measure giving the Select Board authority to make changes if necessary. This, he said, would eliminate the need for a special town meeting and allow the selectmen to either close or open a road if they deemed it necessary.
“If no action is taken,” he said during the meeting, “this would stand for ten years.”
Stevens said on Friday that most towns have a similar ordinance and that the ten-year time frame also was not uncommon.
The interim manager said Limestone has not been plowing the roads in question for several years, but the selectmen have typically voted on the seasonal closure each year. The last time officials voted on closure however was in 2016, but town crews did not plow those roads last year anyway.
“In theory, the town should have plowed those roads [without such a vote],” he said, “so we did this so we could be consistent with our practice.”
Following Wednesday’s public hearing on the measure, the board members voted to move forward with the seasonal closures.
