Belgrade road improvement projects are gaining traction.
The Board of Selectpersons and the Friends of Belgrade Lakes Village inked an agreement late last month involving funding for almost $500,000 worth of enhancements to the state’s reconstruction of Main Street, also known as Route 27, through the village itself.
The state Department of Transportation’s estimated $2 million project is anticipated to start in 2018.
Also, the town awarded a contract for paving on seven town roads to Bruce A. Manzer, Inc., a Farmington-based firm. Roads scheduled for paving work are Mill Stream, Wings Mills, West, Dunn, Knowles, Sahagian and Point roads.
Manzer’s $912,587.38 was the lowest bid among those submitted by five bidders, and it won last year’s contract. Those jobs are scheduled to start around July once Maurice Childs, the town’s road commissioner, completes some preliminary work, Town Manager Carrie Castonguay said.
In the agreement signed between the town and the Friends group, the Board of Selectpersons committed to asking residents to raise $10,200 in matching funds for 500 feet of sidewalks and granite curbing between St. Helena Catholic Church and the Union Church, as well as $45,000 for a wider road there.
The work will not require any fundraising.
That money had been put aside in previous years in town accounts for new sidewalks, and voters will be asked to authorize spending it for this project. As of Dec. 31, 2015, $39,333.26 was in a sidewalk improvement capital reserve.
The town also is asking that the state do upgrades to the project, including brick rather than asphalt sidewalks and a sidewalk lighting system for just over 1,500 feet. The Friends — which have been seeking donations as well as grants for the project — agreed to pay almost $496,000 for the work as well ongoing electricity and maintenance costs, the latter to be funded through a capital trust fund.
Selectmen have been adamant that the project not require an increase in taxes.
The road reconstruction project runs through the heart of the village, and concerns have been raised about its effect on village businesses, which rely heavily on tourist trade in the summer.
The agreement, which has been in the works for some time, was signed April 26 by the board and by Diane Oliver, of Friends of Belgrade Lakes Village, which has an eight-person governing board.
Betty Adams — 621-5631
Twitter: @betadams
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