Hawley blasts paving company

MECHANIC FALLS — The Property Assesses Clean Energy (PACE) program through Efficiency Maine has been adopted by the town.

PACE offers low-interest loans through the state that allow citizens to increase the energy efficiency of their homes. The only prerequisite of getting the loan is to have an energy audit done on the resident’s home. The audit is conducted  to determine whether a particular home can increase its efficiency by a certain percentage, which would make the home eligible.

According to Selectwoman Nancy Richard these audits cost anywhere from $245 to $800 to get done. More information on the loans will be available at the town office.

In recent work done on the streets of Mechanic Falls, 22 of the town's 38 catch basins were removed or separated off. This means that the water runoff does not get directed into the treatment plant to be treated.

John Hawley, Mechanic Falls town manager, wrote a letter to the Sanitary District requesting information on why the bill to the town has not decreased. The reason given is that the district still has to pay the bill for the work to remove them. When the loan is paid off, then there will be a decrease in the bill.

However, Hawley pointed out, when the work was done a few years ago, former Town Manager Dana Lee had received grants to cover the cost of the work done to remove catch basins in Depot Square, Pleasant Street and Oak St. Even then, the bill did not decrease. Hawley will send another letter to the District asking them to come to the January meeting to explain this to the selectman.

The paving of the town roads has been completed. However, the work was not done well. The thickness of the pavement meets the codes requested — two inches thick— but just barely. The bid came in at $125,000 less than the next lowest bid, but Hawley told the paving company he did not know the town was going to be skimped on and given shoddy work.

“Next time we need paving done I will not recommend Rampart to get the job. The roads are going to need overlays. Some are rippled, which is not a problem with the base, but with the mechanics of paving.” Hawley met with Tom Gibson, the owner of the paving company and, due to his unhappiness with the job done, the one-year warranty was extended to two years, and some overlay work will be done in the spring.

In other news, the Poland Water line is now complete, and the water department will be making about $25,000 a year in revenue from new service connections, as well as hydrant rentals. Hawley will petition the Maine DOT to reduce the speed limit on North St from 35 to 25 for the first half to three-quarters of a mile. A moratorium is being put in place for 6 months for a development of any medicinal marijuana clinics or smoke shops while the code enforcement officer examines how other communities handle and regulate these types of businesses. A few inquiries have come in to the office recently.