Dexter council awards bid for Mill Street bridge replacement

DEXTER — The town council chose the low bid of $122,900 by Maine Earth Corp. of Hampden for the replacement of the Mill Street bridge. The work includes an additional $3,000 for water pumping — the lowest combined cost among four submissions —  as the decision was made during a March 11 meeting.

Town Manager Trampas King said seven contractors looked at the Mill Street bridge site and four submitted bids, these included two coming in at, or slightly above, $146,000 along with respective rates of $28,000 and $7,800 for pumping, and another combined bid was for $248,750.

The scope of the work includes removing the existing concrete bridge and guardrails, foundation prep, the placement of a three-side precast concrete culvert, widening/reconstruction of the road and installing new guardrail. Mill Street connects Routes 23 and 7 (Main and Spring streets respectively). The bridge spans the East Branch of the Sebasticook River.

King said Maine Earth Corp. has worked on Spring and Church streets previously and town officials were happy with the company. 

“It’s going to be July or August. They need to wait until the water’s gone down as much as it can,” the town manager said about the bridge work. “It needs to be done by September with the grant.”

The grant totals $95,000 and King said the municipal bridge account totals $70,000. He said the near $31,000 difference in Mill Street bridge project costs will be part of next year’s budget.

In other business, the council tabled a decision on a potential $1.3 million bond for road/infrastructure improvements and equipment purchases.until next month’s meeting, scheduled for Thursday, April 8.

During the February meeting King said with interest rates low, now may be an opportune time to pay off some existing debt and use the remainder for improvements and purchases. He said the 10-year bond would be for up to $1.3 million and after paying off the current bond, about $900,000 could be used.

“First we will get the money then we will divide it up for what we want,” King said. He said some town roads are in need of work and municipal vehicles have issues “so we need to look ahead and get ahead.”

The April 11 council meeting will also have a public hearing on a proposed amendment to the shoreland zoning ordinance. The amendment says all activities involving earthmoving or disturbing of soils on Big Lake Wassookeag shall be limited to the period between May 15 and Oct. 1.

“The reason we’re doing it is the ordinance is outdated,” King said. He gave an example of foundation work on camps needing to be done only during the proposed timeframe to reduce runoff in order to protect the source of town drinking water.

King mentioned a half dozen events are set to be held in the summer. He said fireworks are planned for July 3 with a parade and boat parade on Independence Day. The VFW will have its cruise-in in July, the Dexter Sunrise Kiwanis will hold its cruise-in in August and that same month the fire department will hold its annual auction.

“A shorter version of the Red Hot Dog Festival will begin the 14th of August,” the town manager said. The event is set to return in 2021 after being canceled the previous summer.