The Dresden Board of Selectmen met Monday, Oct. 21 and discussed a subdivision question, the Route 27/Route 127 intersection and ambulance services.

Subdivision query

The board also aired an inquiry Monday from a resident of the Densmore Lane subdivision on how to go about making the way into a town road.

Property owner Peter Haraden approached the board out of frustration regarding maintenance of the road.

Haraden expressed particular concern about snow removal this winter. “I’m not sure there is enough money to take care of it,” he said.

Even given a favorable political process requiring a town meeting vote, the time involved makes a decision this winter unlikely, according to selectmen.

Selectman Gerald Lilly advised Haraden to go the Densmore Lane association about the matter before moving ahead with any attempt to make the private road a town road.

If the currently private road for the subdivision along the riverbank near the Dresden-Richmond Bridge becomes a town road, the town would maintain it at least in the winter months, Board Chairman Phil Johnston said.

Ultimately, such a matter will have to go before the local citizenry at a town meeting, either special or annual, but the first step entails getting signatures of all the residents of the four-home subdivision on a statement agreeing to have the road public, Johnston said.

“We’d have to take a look at it to see what maintenance has to be done, and it would have to be done before approved as a town road,” Moeller said. “I believe it has been built to town specs.”

If the road becomes a town road, people have to realize the landowners have to give the town an easement making it a road anyone can travel on, Foss warned.

“I’m not too concerned about that,” Haraden said.

Foss told Haraden that the homeowners will have to specify the type of maintenance the people desire, which usually consists of winter maintenance only for such roads.

Chairman Johnston advised Haraden to look at the deed for the subdivision, which should show its conditions and suggested he could obtain public information about making private roads public from the Maine Municipal Association.

The matter will have to go before local voters at either the annual town meeting or a special town meeting preceded by a public hearing.

Dangerous intersection

Johnston brought up his concern about the intersection of Route 27 and Route 127 in the Village, which became the scene of a recent auto crash and previous ones.

“I’m afraid something really bad is going to happen there,” he said. Johnston lives diagonally across from the intersection.

Johnston advocated contacting the Maine Dept. of Transportation about the possibility of putting a light there to warn motorists nearing the intersection. He said drivers still speed through the Village as fast as 70 miles per hour or more when signs indicate a 35 mph zone.

“I would like to go on record as looking for action,” he said.

Selectmen agreed to contact the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office first.

Ambulance service

Lori Rice, division commander for North East Mobile Health Services, which contracts ambulance service for Dresden, reported 38 calls in the town during the past three months.

Rice said the service recorded an average 12.2-minute average for response times compared to a 14.7-minute average for the same quarter last year. She said the longest time was 35 minutes and the shortest time was two minutes.

Selectman Lilly asked if the service could alter the hours of the ambulance changeover in the afternoon to a later time because of the Bath Iron Works traffic being at that time.

During changeover of shifts, the service has to ready ambulances at its Topsham center before sending an ambulance to the Village station, but agreed to look into possible time changes for the afternoon schedule, Rice said.

During the recent quarter, the service transported 17 patients to Mid Coast Hospital, two patients to Maine General Hospital in Augusta, four patients to Parkview Seventh Day Adventist Medical Center and four patients to Miles Memorial Hospital, according to Lilly.

Rice said she has consulted with Fire Chief Steve Lilly to determine ways to better the company’s service to the community. She said she has been distributing customer comment cards on all 911 calls. She also reported the crew stood by a training burn recently.

In her report, she writes, “We have received some great feedback and are always looking for ways to better our service.”

Old town hall use

In other business Monday night, the board discussed a request from the local snowmobile club for use of the building as a meeting place and cleanup of the place on Sunday, Nov. 3 beginning at 8 a.m.

Foss said the town has been paying insurance for the historic building, which has been vacant for some time.

Board member expressed some favor about the prospect but wondered whether it would amount to exclusion for other uses. “I think it needs to be available for other groups,” Moeller said.

The board also expressed concern about the lack of restroom facilities, which the club may or may not have to provide, such as a port-a-potty.

Other business

In other action, the board approved a permit for a boat storage area on Hunter Road for Eastern River Marine Services, postponed a decision on contracting with Tom’s Painting for painting of the recycling center to seek a more definitive cost quote, and approved Rapid Renewal of auto registrations online.