Buckfield board votes to measure McAlister Road

BUCKFIELD — Selectmen, during their meeting September 18, voted to have Town Manager Dana Lee, along with at least one resident of McAlister Road, conduct measurement of the portion of the road owned by the town. 

The town considers about a quarter-mile section of the McAlister Road abandoned, a designation some residents of the road are trying to change.

Selectwoman Martha Catevenis made a motion for the measurement after reviewing documentation from the state's Urban-Rural Initiative Program (URIP) that reimburses towns for road maintenance.

According to a URIP document from 2005, the town claims .47 miles on McAlister Road for reimbursement.

"This is what we've been claiming and this is what we've been getting reimbursed for," she said. "I want to know where .47 is."

Catevenis said she wanted to be absolutely sure where this distance was – a measurement to the exact specification the state uses to determine URIP reimbursement would show how much of the road the town was required to maintain. 

Selectman Rodney Allen shared some of this own research with other board members.

Using records that go back to 1989, the town maintained and improved around 2,700 feet of the road, slightly over the .47 of a mile.

Leah and Roland Frechette, who originally brought the matter to the attention of the selectmen in August, did not dispute measuring the road but said it might leave the town on a part of the road with nowhere to turn around.

Just going another hundred feet or so would give town vehicles a turn-around area, the Frechettes stated.

The couple are asking the town to resume maintenance of the quarter-mile it considers abandoned.

They argue that the town has conducted maintenance of the road since it has been considered abandoned and have suggested they will take legal action if the town does not reclaim the road.

Catevenis and Allen voted to direct Lee and a resident to measure the road before the next board meeting. Chairman Robin Buswell abstained from voting.