County commissioners approve bids for work on Elliotsville Road

DOVER-FOXCROFT — The Piscataquis County Commissioners awarded bids for paving and road work projects on the Elliotsville Road during a July 7 meeting.

Commissioners Chair Jim White opened four bids for paving on the Elliotsville Road in the township of the same name, with the gross totals ranging from nearly $405,700 to just under $482,000. After a review by county consultant Roger Picard of Pavement Management Services of Abbot, the work was awarded to Wellman Paving of Winterport with its low bid of gross $405,686.

The county’s portion of the Wellman Paving bid is $109,866 with the work being combined with projects elsewhere in the state. This practice has been utilized in years past to reduce costs for all parties, such as through a lower price per ton of asphalt at a bulk rate.

White also unsealed a pair of bids for accompanying road work. 

“Ditching, clearing the culverts and doing the ditching after the paving is done,” County Manager Michael Williams said. He said this totals a little more than a mile’s worth with one side of the road not needing ditch work.

THA Logging and Excavation, Inc. of Monson was awarded the bid with its lower price of $21,000, vs. $84,900 for the other.

Commissioner Wayne Erkkinen wondered about the discrepancy, but neither contractor had a representative present to comment.

In other business, the commissioners approved the Atkinson snow removal contract with O’Brien and Sons Construction of Dexter for the next five years through the end of the 2024-25 fiscal year.

A year ago the two parties signed a transitional snow removal contract for the first year of Atkinson being part of the Unorganized Territory with O’Brien and Sons Construction continuing with the plowing as the firm had done when Atkinson was a municipality. The contract was for $125,000, sand and salt included, for 22 miles of road, a per mile cost of $5,682. By mutual consent of both parties, the agreement could be renewed for up to five years at the same terms.

“He did phenomenal, we had absolutely no complaints,” Williams said.

The commissioners also voted to support a grant request letter the Piscataquis Regional YMCA will be sending to the USDA.

“They are putting in for a grant from the USDA to do some updates,” Williams said. “It just looks better if it has the county’s backing. It’s no dollars from us.”

“We had our first day with court back in session yesterday, it went very smoothly,” Piscataquis County District Attorney’s Office Manager Corina Rackliff said, mentioning that there were no complaints about the operations. “We had a very successful day so we are pleased to have the court back in session.”

When asked Rackliff said upstairs in the building there is a mask requirement, but not downstairs. She said jury selection is not scheduled until November.

“The courts being open is certainly something we support,” White said. “Having law and order is a must for society.”

In his report Williams mentioned he, Picard and Road Agent Carl Henderson took a ride through Atkinson to examine roads in the township.

“He’s in the process of putting a plan together,” the county manager said about Henderson determining needed road improvements. 

Williams said a rough estimate has $220,000 needed to pave the John Doore and Dyer roads. He said he wanted the commissioners to be aware of the impending costs for Atkinson roads prior to work on the next Unorganized Territory budget.