WOODLAND, Maine – Woodland officials approved the first step toward giving town roads new pavement next spring.
On Tuesday, the Select Board unanimously approved a bid from Caribou-based Soderberg Construction for $94 per ton of hot top, equaling $128,075, to pave Tabor Road, Everett Road and Langley Road.
The board cited Soderberg as having the least expensive bid, versus $95 per ton from Trombley Industries in Limestone and $96 per ton from Northeast Paving in Presque Isle.
Funds will come from the public works highway maintenance budget, for which voters approved a $200,000 total earlier this year.
The board also plans to include Langley Road in next year’s paving plans but those funds will need approval from voters during the annual meeting in April, said board chairperson Matt Cole.
Tabor and Everett Road paving began this year and were already approved during the annual meeting this year, Cole said.
Interim Road Commissioner Paul Coy said that he would be speaking with Soderberg Construction to ensure that the town gets on the company’s paving list and that the Langley Road can be included.
The board also authorized Coy to spend $28,000 from the department’s equipment repair budget to purchase two sweepers for the town’s 2004 and 2006 plow trucks, costing $14,000 each. Currently, there is $73,270 left in the equipment repair budget, for which voters approved $150,000 this year.
In other business, the board set the annual town election for Monday, March 31 and the annual meeting for April 1.
One Select Board term, that of Kathy Ouellette, will be up for election in March. Ouellette was elected in 2023 to replace Timothy Browning, who resigned that year.
