Casco PW moves in right direction

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“You are going a good job. We moved from Rhode Island. The roads there are horrible. When we moved to Casco, we thought, ‘This town is killing it. There are no potholes,’” Walsh said, adding the snow removal has been timely, too.

Genest touched on a few more topics.

He and the Town

By Dawn De Busk Staff Writer CASCO

— One ordinance that will not take the usual trip to town meeting is a proposal governing posted weights on roads.

State law waived the town meeting process for this ordinance, which would allow towns to fine drivers whose vehicles exceed the posted weight limit, according to Casco Town Manager Anthony “Tony” Ward.

“In past, you used to have to go town meeting to adopt an ordinance. They [the state] granted a waiver. It’s one of the few ordinances that can be done at the administrative level,” he said.

Also, it would allow the town to fine violators between $200 and $2,500, he said.

On Tuesday, the Casco Board of Selectmen adopted

Manager Tony Ward plan to attend a course on gravel road maintenance “We have 5.6 miles of dirt roads. We are in the process of figuring out how to get up to standards,” he said. “As far as ditching, we are going to continue on what I did last year. We have a private contractor in town helping us with longer spans that we cannot do by the ordinance, which will provide the town with the power to enforcement the ordinance. The board voted, 5-0, to approve the ordinance.

“Right now, this law mirrors state law,” Ward said.

On Jan. 17, Ward brought up the topic during the Casco Board of Selectmen meeting. He told the board ourselves because we don’t have equipment and man power.” this would be the first reading, and the ordinance could be approved at the next meeting in February.

He used that opportunity to pitch for moving toward a true public works department by saying a couple trucks would help get the work done and eliminate the need to contract out.

“It’s about making our town self-sufficient,” he said.

“In 2017, the legislature changed and recommends that towns have ordinances related to posting the roads. During that time, if you read the law, it said towns may, not shall. Towns may post roads,” he said.

Town Manager Ward said that during this upcoming budget process, the selectmen can decide in which direction public works should go. Those options are: remain status quo and keep bidding out, make the change incrementally and in phases, or invest in the equipment to become more self-sufficient.

To make the language stronger, the word “may” was changed to the word “shall.”

Both Maine Municipal Association (MMA) and the Maine Department of Transportation (MDOT) recommend that we have an ordinance that gives us the authority to post the roads.

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