Buckfield seeks local company for roads

BUCKFIELD — The Town of Buckfield is seeking bids from local contractors for a three-year contract to provide a portion of the town's road maintenance needs.

It is hoped that the contract will help put local residents to work.

Holmes said that the bid should attract "hopefully, as many local people as we can, and then who knows what we'll get from other towns. "

The contract is for the town's "Non Specific Road Maintenance," said Holmes "which is basically something that comes up that is unplanned or is small enough so that it would not take major planning. At the same time, if a catastrophe was to hit, you have somebody where you already have rates in place, and you can use that contractor."

The contractor will provide materials, equipment and manpower to the town, with prices that are established at the beginning of the contract

Holmes felt that the contract is an improvement over the town's current deal, as it differentiates between hourly and monthly rates, for example, which could bring the price of a job down in the event that the town is able to commit to hiring a person for an extended period of time.

Holmes said that this time around, he and the Road Committee have decided not to include winter sanding in the contract, a departure from previous years.

"The winter sanding is no longer part of this bid," he said. "It is a separate bid, because there is a much larger number of people who could provide that service individually, than necessarily being able to provide all these things together."

One of the things that deters some contractors is the fact that the work is often unplanned, which means that the town will sometimes expect a piece of equipment to be made available right away without warning.

The new contract is expected to begin on July 1, the day after the current contract expires.

"To have something in place by July 1 would be nice," said Holmes.

 Sealed bids will be accepted by the town until they are opened on May 3.