FARMINGTON — Damage from recent heavy rain has town officials worried a stretch of Whittier Road is at risk of crumbling into Sandy River, where erosion has been threatening the road for more than a decade.

After the river nearly flooded during last week’s storms, even more of the already weakened riverbank supporting the section of road near the intersection with Route 156 washed away, according to Denis Castonguay, public works director for Farmington.

Selectmen on Tuesday night were slated to discuss whether this recent storm damage warranted making repairs in the near future, Castonguay said, adding there is no public safety hazard at the site.

Selectmen are also trying to avoid disqualifying the town’s bid for a $235,000 federal grant to fix the eroding riverbank, he said, speaking before the meeting.

Because the town has already applied for the Federal Emergency Management Agency grant, Castonguay said there is a limit to the amount of repair work allowed at the site before the town must start the grant application process again.

Castonguay planned to update selectmen at the meeting about the condition of the river bank, saying he didn’t expect a decision on repairs to be made until the erosion got worse.

Meanwhile, Castonguay’s department, along with Franklin County emergency management officials, monitor the section of road and riverbank daily. He noted the practice of daily monitoring began when the erosion started about 12 years ago.

“But if we feel there is a public risk we will have to do some work and risk losing the FEMA mitigation (grant),” he said.

The federal grant program provides funding for projects seeking to avoid natural disasters, such as stabilizing the weakened riverbank, Castonguay said. He was working this week with the federal agency to devise a plan to conduct repair work without disqualifying the town’s initial grant application.

A preliminary plan for an emergency repair project consists of stabilizing 120 feet of the riverbank, he said. That emergency project is compared to the 420 feet of repairs that would be paid for by the federal grant.

Castonguay said the town would struggle to pay for either repair project, but added that if the road crumbled into the river the replacement would cost at least $500,000.

There would be a roughly 30-minute detour for traffic if the smaller repair project moves forward. About 2,000 vehicles travel on the section of Whittier Road each day, he said, citing a Maine Department of Transportation traffic study.

The riverbank erosion started because there is a sharp bend in the Sandy River at the section, which helps build up a sand bar that creates an eddy that erodes the riverbank.

Town workers and private owners for years harvested the sandbar annually to prevent the problem, but the Maine Department of Environmental Protection stopped issuing the required permits about 12 years ago, Castonguay said. He noted the permits were discontinued because of environmental concerns tied to wildlife and fisheries.

The state agency recently re-issued the permit to allow the town to harvest the sandbar for at least the next five years, he said. Town crews recently cleared about half of the sandbar, or roughly 12,000 yards.

The agency also granted the town officials the required permits to conduct emergency repairs for the riverbank as they deem necessary, Castonguay said.

There is no timetable for when the town will learn whether it’s federal grant is approved, but officials with the federal agency visited the site recently to evaluate the riverbank’s condition, he said.

David F. Robinson — 861-9287

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