Council OKs funds for snowmobile bridge repair

By Joseph Cyr
Staff Writer
    HOULTON — Repairs to a snowmobile bridge that was damaged this past winter will be made possible thanks to money from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
    Houlton Town Manager Doug Hazlett informed the town council Monday evening that they had received $24,989 in FEMA disaster recovery funds as a result of the heavy rain/flood event from December of 2010. Of this amount, $7,000 will be earmarked to replace a snowmobile bridge located across the B Stream that was wiped out in the flooding.
    “Last December, we had quite a bit of snow on the ground and then got a significant amount of rain,” Hazlett said. “It caused about five or six roads to be washed out in town and the snowsled bridge across B Stream to be completely eliminated.”
    No other bridges or trails were significantly damaged as a result of the flooding, Hazlett said.
    The remaining amount of the funds will be used to aid the town’s fuel budget, specifically its diesel fuel account.
    “Other than the $7,000, we can use the funds for public works expenses in general,” Hazlett said. “In this case we will offset the higher than planned cost of fuel due to winter plowing.”
    In other agenda items, councilors:
    • Approved a bid of $76.92 per ton from Carill, Inc. for the town’s supply of winter salt.
    • Granted an application for the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians, doing business as Rollerama, for a “Bottle Club.” According to Hazlett, a bottle club is a form of “bring your own bottle” for alcohol and the group plans to hold Saturday dances at the North Road location.
    • Accepted a grant of $2,000 from the 2011 Maine Sun Safety and Skin Cancer Prevention Mini-Grant and an additional $2,000 from “Let’s Go” Healthy Aroostook program to be used for baseball and softball dugout improvements on Porter and Langley fields in Community Park.
    • Accepted an anonymous donation of $500 received at the Gentle Memorial Building during a recent puppet show. The show cost $500 to bring to the town.
    The next regular council meeting will be held Monday, July 11 at 6:30 p.m. in the council chambers.