Highway crew ready for winter

HEBRON — The highway department has laid down sand on Route 119 in response to a car accident last Friday, reported Selectman Jim Reid at the selectboard meeting November 26.

Reid said that the crew didn't sand the entire road – just spots that needed it most to prevent cars from sliding. "We didn't want to waste sand," he said. 

Last Friday morning around 7:15 a.m., a woman from Woodstock was transported to Stephens Memorial Hospital in Norway after her pickup truck skidded on some ice and flipped over on Route 119 in Hebron, according to reports. 

Maine State Trooper Kyle Tilsley told the Sun Journal later that day that the combination of fog and the cold on Friday left patches of black ice on the road. 

"Just the shaded areas [of the road] were an issue," said Chairman Dick Deans during the selectmen meeting. 

According to reports, the driver, Karla Lowe, 39, took a corner too fast for a particular curve near Hebron Academy, lost control of her Ford Ranger, struck a tree then landed the vehicle upside down. 

Lowe was not badly injured, reports say, but she was transported to the hospital for cautionary measures. 

Deans reported that the highway crew has already installed plow gear on truck number two and is ready for snow. 

Reid said that when the highway crew isn't plowing or sanding, it's "chomping at the bit to cut brush. Honest to God." 

"The limbs are out there [in the road] pretty good," said Reid. "There are some limbs that are going to hit the lights and mirrors if you are trying to push [snow] back," he explained.

Reid said the crew has also been working on smoothing out some "culvert bumps" and that by spring, the crew will reset the culverts to flatten the roads back out. 

In other news, the board: 

• Reported that Selectman Jim Reid visited the transfer station last week and noticed all the lights were off at the town garage. He said he went in and turned on the security lights, concerned that somebody could go onto the property and steal fuel. 

• Reported that the stop sign at the bottom of Sturtevant Hill Road has been moved to East Oxford Road for safety concerns. 

• Reported that West Paris Metal Recycling LLC has been visiting the Hebron transfer station and purchasing/hauling its disposed appliances.