Dover-Foxcroft transportation study public meeting Sept. 19
DOVER-FOXCROFT — For many years drivers and pedestrians in downtown Dover-Foxcroft have dealt with a number of issues, such as tractor trailer trucks needing to cross the centerline into the other lane in order to make the turn on and off South Street, a lack of a crosswalk near the Mill complex, deteriorating asphalt and over a half dozen major routes and sidestreets all coming together in one location by the intersections of East Main Street with West Main Street and Route 7.
Earlier this year the selectmen took a step toward finding some possible solutions for the stretch of road where East Main, Pleasant, South, West Main, North and Lincoln streets converge by agreeing to use up to $25,000 for the municipality’s 50/50 share with the Maine Department of Transportation on a traffic study for the downtown. The downtown includes the major routes to Bangor, Dexter, Milo and Greenville.
“The kickoff meeting for the Maine DOT study will be next Thursday the 19th here at 6:30 p.m.,” Town Manager Jack Clukey said during a Sept. 9 selectmen’s meeting. The public meeting for the Dover-Foxcroft Urban Area Transportation Study will be from 6:30-8 p.m. that evening at the Morton Avenue Municipal Building.
In his report Clukey wrote MDOT officials will be present to gather information about the study, listen to concerns about the existing transportation system and get public input about areas of concern.
Gorrill Palmer of South Portland is on board as a consultant. The firm will conduct field observations during the day on Sept. 19 and will be at the meeting that night.
Over the summer the MDOT installed cameras downtown for data collection and MDOT Commissioner Bruce A. Van Note toured the area. The timeframe mentioned for the final traffic report is to have the document finished by next April.
In other business, the selectmen passed a resolution for the acceptance of a $50,000 Community Development Block Grant Micro Enterprise Assistance Grant for the Spruce Mill Farm & Kitchen on West Main Street to purchase equipment.
“The next step is to accept the CDBG funds for this project,” Clukey said.
In April the selectmen approved the CDBG application and acceptance of any awarded funds on behalf of Spruce Mill Farm & Kitchen.
“We have been in our storefront since 2016 and we applied for this in 2017 but didn’t receive it so this is our second time,” Natasha Colbry, who owns and operates Spruce Mill Farm & Kitchen with her husband Dustin, said in the spring. They have been in operation for five years.
“We are taking a new stance on how we are going to develop our business, we have found some efficiencies we can improve on,” Dustin Colbry said. When asked the Colbrys said they baked 100 loaves of bread for Gov. Janet Mills inauguration festivities over the course of two days and with new equipment a similar amount can be readied in only hours.
“Paving work it’s happening, last I heard from the contractors they are looking to come in at the end of the month,” Clukey said. “I think it’s going to take three weeks.”
This year’s portion of the 10-year paving plan will be done by Hopkins Landscaping & Paving of Hermon, in June the selectmen approved the company’s low bid of $387,940.
The paving schedule includes a section of Autumn Avenue, Danforth Street, Davis Street, part of Dwelley Avenue, Forest Street, Grange Street, a portion of Grove Street, some of Hancock Street, Harvey Street and Pleasant Street from High Street to Route 15.
“The solar RFQs, those are due a week from today and what I would like to do is bring a recommendation forward at our next meeting on the 23rd,” Clukey said. Select Chair Elwood Edgerly and board member Gail D’Agostino will meet with Clukey to help make the recommendation.
In late summer the selectmen approved the issuing of a request for qualifications for consulting services for a municipal solar project. Clukey said new legislation provides opportunity for town solar initiatives, such as federal tax credits and other rebates.
Select Vice Chair Cindy Freeman Cyr said she read about Fiberight’s new Coastal Resources of Maine waste processing facility in Hampden, where Dover-Foxcroft will be sending items from its transfer station, in a recent Bangor Daily News article. She said she did not want citizens to get complacent.
“We are still receiving here and we want you to bring everything we are separating out,” Freeman Cyr said about trash and recyclables. “Anything we can do to be helpful to make it clear to citizens what we expect would be helpful.”