Castine
Drains, speed and costs of curbstones come up at Castine meeting

BY SHARON BRAY
Selectman David Unger said townspeople can talk later about the money side of fixing roads, water pipes and sewers. The public meeting Monday, February 15, focused on specifics of improvements in the engineering plan by CES, Inc.

About 20 people attended the discussion of phase one of a five-part project to be implemented over the next 25 years. The scope and priorities of the project have been put together by Olver Associates working with town officials.

The financial details will be up for discussion at a meeting Monday, March 22, five days before the March 27 budget town meeting. At the urging of some citizens at Monday’s meeting, selectmen will see how soon they can provide more information on how the town can pay for the project, Unger said.

The estimated cost of $2,240,000 would be paid by a combination of taxes and user fees for sewer and water services. Castine paid Olver’s company $24,000 for the preliminary plan, and the CES bill for engineering throughout the entire phase one will come to more than $90,000, according to financial officer Karen Motycka.

The entire project has an estimated price tag of $14 million over the next 15 to 25 years.

Project engineer Travis Noyes presented an overview of the project and said his firm would address citizen concerns in completing the design by Friday, February 26. CES plans to advertise for contractor bids on the project in the weekend newspapers Saturday, February 27, he said.

With the current economic situation, Noyes said, he expects more bids than usual and more competition to keep the price down.

Although CES would open sealed bids three days before town meeting, they would not have that information in time for the March 22 public meeting. Selectmen had said they needed bid figures in time for the town meeting vote on the project, Noyes noted, but maybe they could adjust dates to provide that information for pre-town meeting public discussion.

Major improvements are slated for Battle Avenue, Perkins Street, Wadsworth Cove Road, Court Street, Pleasant Street and School Street over the next five years.

Water and Tarratine Streets and sections of a few others in town are up for some work along with replacement of water and sewer pipes wherever streets will be dug up.

Where roads need the most work—such as Battle Avenue from Tarratine Street to Madockawando Road—Noyes described the “reconstruction” process, including layers of pavement, base and subbase gravels, and a “geotextile” under all.

Where the road base is in better condition, such as Battle from Tarratine to Main, plans call for “roadway reclaim.” That process would involve a “reclamation grinder,” something like a “big rototiller,” to dig up pavement and some gravel that will become part of the new road surface topped with four inches of new pavement.

Without naming target dates for each location, Noyes went into the most detail about three streets.

Battle Avenue would end up with 3,300 linear feet (l.f.) of new water main and sewer pipes, 2,300 l.f. of reconstruction and 1,475 l.f. reclaimed.

Perkins Street would be reconstructed from Battle to Madockawando with special attention to drainage problems. The Perkins plan calls for 1,600 l.f. of new water main and 1,600 l.f. of road reconstruction with curbing, as well as a 1,475 l.f. closed drainage system.

The project includes 1,900 l.f. of new pavement and 2,200 l.f. of reconstruction for Wadsworth Cove Road, including speed tables.

Over all, Noyes described plans for ditches, closed drainage systems, road surface shapes and placement of granite curbstones to control water flow.

Resident Robin Mass asked about the difference in prices of granite, concrete and asphalt curbing. Where granite costs $30 to $40 a foot, concrete or asphalt would run about $8 a foot, Noyes responded.

Selectman Gus Basile said a few years ago residents on Green Street and Dresser Lane insisted on granite curbing, which led the town to call for it in project specifications.

Another citizen asked if bid specs would call for U.S.-made materials.

Noyes said it could cost more to do so, but engineers would consider the suggestion. He also said some projects call for North American materials to include quality products from Canada.

Madockawando Road, which is not included in phase one, becomes “a real river…on a rainy day,” said Dick Starke. In addition to water, gravel from many driveways wash downhill onto Perkins Street property, he said.

Noyes responded that engineers hope to solve part of the problem with improvements to a drainage system that was installed several years ago.

“We’re held right now to certain project constraints,” Noyes said. “We will address it [the drainage problem] with this project although it is not on the original plan.”

A Latour Street resident said that road will not last until the next five-year phase.

A number of Wadsworth Cove Road residents asked questions and listed concerns ranging from how to slow down speeders on the steep hill to whether ditching and culverts could redirect copious run-off to the Witherle Woods side of the road, away from most houses.

Noyes said “speed tables” instead of “bumps” should be constructed at intervals to prevent drivers from gaining speed between them.

Laurie Stone noted that the deep ditch between her house and the street “is a danger to pedestrians” and bikers.

Neighbor Randy Stearns asked, “Is there room for a bike or pedestrian” lane beside the street. Others doubted it.

“That curve is deadly,” Jim Stone said of the road downhill from their house.

“We’ve had some terrible accidents there,” added Laurie Stone. “But no one has been killed yet.”

Noyes said he could look into Basile’s suggestion to move the road somewhat to alleviate several concerns.

Although neither Bill nor Sylvia Carter attended, Unger called attention to their drainage problems on the downhill side of Battle Avenue.

Amid discussion about whether yearly cleaning of ditches would solve problems and how mosquitoes breed in ditch water, Noyes told the gathering that his company would provide maintenance recommendations for the town.

Others noted that the town might not have enough money for its crew to clean out ditches every year as Noyes said they should be.

Noyes did not include a separate project to improve the sewage treatment outfall as required by the state. That improvement will add about $300,000 to Castine’s expenses, Unger said.
The next public discussion of the project is scheduled for Monday, March 22.

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