FARMINGTON – Commissioners signed a three-year contract with Evergreen Behavioral Services to provide mental health services at the Franklin County Detention Center at Tuesday’s meeting, then scheduled a site visit for Lowell Road in New Vineyard.
Evergreen provides mental health and substance abuse services at FCDC, having done so since the facility reopened as a full-time jail in 2015. Evergreen conducts the intake evaluations, runs day-to-day programs for inmates and is on call for emergencies, with jail administrators previously saying they were “very pleased” with the service.
Evergreen had been operating on a one-year contract, running from April 1, 2016 to March 31, 2017, billing the $89,000 annual cost monthly. The contract signed by commissioners Tuesday includes no cost increases for the next three years.
In other business, commissioners scheduled a site visit and, if necessary, a hearing on the Lowell Road in New Vineyard. Commissioners took up a failure to maintain petition submitted by Cecile Lowell, a resident of the road, on Feb. 7. Lowell has told commissioners that the road was not being plowed in a manner that allowed for easy access. In attempting to avoid a trailer and associated material located and/or parked near Lowell Road by a neighbor, the plow was swerving to the side, Lowell said, and not leaving adequate space between the ditch and snow bank.
At the Feb. 7 meeting, commissioners decided to contact New Vineyard selectmen and discuss the situation. County Clerk Julie Magoon said she had spoken with Board Chair Fay Adams and at least one of the commissioners visited the road over the past couple weeks.
Lowell said that the issues she had complained about previously had persisted through last week’s series of snow storms. She said that she had a contract with the town regarding proper maintenance of Lowell Road, a document that stemmed back from a similar discussion that occurred in 2004.
The commissioners scheduled a site visit to Lowell Road on March 6 at 2 p.m., with New Vineyard’s Board of Selectmen to be informed by Magoon. Additionally, the commissioners scheduled a hearing on the issue at 9:30 a.m. on March 7 in Farmington.
This is a good example of a citizen appealing to the County Commissioners when a town fails to keep a road safe and convenient for the traveling public. Maine statutes have made this appeals process available, but few people know about it. If it were better known, we’d have fewer towns trying to save money by shirking their responsibility to keep roads in repair, hoping they can avoid accountability long enough to claim a road abandoned instead of properly discontinuing it. Abandonment was never intended to allow towns to intentionally neglect a road that still has people living on it. Rather, it was meant simply to confirm the status of roads that had been “forgotten or lost through the records” because they had not been used for thirty years. But in recent years, towns have taken advantage of loopholes in the law that enable them to leave residents and taxpayers isolated, without any of the services they pay for through their taxes. This is a growing problem, and one that is being tackled by Maine ROADWays (Residents & Owners on Abandoned & Discontinued Ways.) You can find their facebook page and website online.
The town think they can do what ever they want well we will see because I do have pictures of them plowing the snow in my yard a picture is worth a thousand words. Let them denie
The proof that is something they won’t be able to denie I do have a lot of proof I want to see what they got and that’s nothing
New vineyard plowing sure is sketchy. Maybe it’s time for someone new to do the job.
Im not sure i understand…? So there is STUFF in the road way which hinders the plows from doing their job…how is that the towns fault OR the plow mans fault??? Could someone please explain…
I’ll be curious to see how this works out. The town of New Vineyard contracts it’s plowing out to a private contractor and we have been repeatedly told by selectmen that we will not get anyone else to do as good of a job for the same money. Well if we have to pay more for a better job than so be it. Makes sense to me. Right now we are getting what we payed for…
If the plow has room to get through why not a passenger car ????
It sometimes seems like the plowing is used to settle personal vendettas.
Answer to tiara it’s the towns fault because it was the town that aloud a trailer and garage to be put in the center on the town right away not us so that does make it there fault and there the ones that said it hard to plow because of the trailer so unless people know what it’s about they should not comet on it and it’s not a vendetta so unless you what’s going on and you don’t keep it to your self
isn’t that private road, not the towns job it is ours. mine doesn’t get done it is considered a private road. even though other people own on the road. we need to save for winters. everyone wants a free ride
To jesse the oil trucks can’t get in so no there not plowing it wide enough and they use a pick up not the big blow truck like there supposed to
You are right, I dont know whats going on which is why I ASKED A QUESTION. Perhaps thats not allowed??? If something is in the local paper, regarding the town I live in, and I want to know more about it i guess its my constitutional right to ask the question. wasnt blaming, wasnt cussing, wasnt being nasty or rude…simply curious about the situation.
and to everyone complaining about the quality of plowing…have you not seen the over 8 feet of snow we have received since december 30? its not an easy job, and it certainly isnt an appreciated job. ive been a “plow widow” many winters. unless you’ve done it yourself, unless you’ve spent those endless hours out in the conditions, unless you’ve gone days without sleep trying to keep up with the weather than perhaps you all should take a step back and just APPRECIATE what they do for you. 3-4 guys take care of your whole town. Thats what you as the towns people voted for. And the price you pay is less than HALF of what surrounding towns are paying their plow contractors. (and fyi…most of those surrounding towns are using small ton trucks & pick up trucks as well, with only 1 big truck) So again, be appreciative. Be patient. Be thankful. Or, put your money where your mouth is and put a bid in yourself to do the job.
have a wonderful day and lets just pray for spring to come soon :)
Well if I have they equipment I would put a bid in but when it put into your drive way and it’s done on purpose the you can say you know and I have worked for a company and I did plow so unless you know what’s really going on watch on how you word thi gs I have the proof that’s what cameras and videos are for I have the proof I need showing him put the snow in my driveway
To karen this is not a private road its an open county road witch the town is responsible for plowing
Sorry i didnt specify what size truck they used. I pulled into that road yesterday and turned around where the plow does. There is sufficient room to get an oil truck in there the road is plenty wide for a truck that is less than a foot wider than a passenger vehicle. If they cant turn around that is the driveways fault or an inexperienced driver. Keep complaining maybe the plow guys will let gou show them how to do there job!!!!!
So plowing is a tough issue this year but 89,000/moth for MH services seems kind of steep. How many prisoners does this service per month for that standard price? That’s a 1,680,000 per year to process MH intakes and day programs? I think this is a good service to provide but over a million and a half dollars seems like an incredible price to pay in a town that flinches at every tax dollars are spent.
Jesse the plow truck can’t even turn around you came in yesterday it’s been warm all week and it’s melted back a lot so for you to say they can turn around you know nothing because they haven’t been able to turn around all winter they have to back up to 27
What some tows pay for plowing stratton /Eustis pay 165.000 for plowing new Portland pay’s 1.333.000 a year new vineyard payed 165.800.00 this is for 2016/2017 I have been in these towns in new Portland and stratton /Eustis you go see the job they do its good now look at new vineyard not so great
Okay, so to clarify a few things here, as I understand them – First of all, this is a town road, not a private road. The Town signed an agreement several years ago to keep the road and the entry to the Lowell’s driveway open. There is limited space for a turnaround because the Town allowed a smaller house trailer to be replaced with a much bigger trailer, which actually sits within the right-of-way bounds, so close to the road that snow slides off its roof into the travelled way. But there is a gully beyond the end of the road which would easily accommodate all of a winter’s snow if it were pushed back far enough, starting with the first storm. The trouble is, it wasn’t pushed back after the early storms, so when the big snows came later, there wasn’t anywhere to put it, and the old snow was by then frozen too hard to push back with a pickup truck. The Lowell’s entry makes a hairpin turn from the end of the road, so unless the snowbank is pushed back, an oil truck can’t make the turn. The neighbor in the trailer has compounded the problem by placing concrete blocks along their lawn and pushing snow across the street. The Town was making mutterings about ceasing snow removal and “discontinuing” the road, which was rather alarming. I think what they actually meant was “closing to winter maintenance,” but I believe they have realized that’s not an appropriate solution in this case. Hopefully they’ll be able to plot out a better turnaround once the snow is gone and they can see what they have to work with.