Article on private road repairs removed from Athol Town Meeting warrant

ATHOL – An article on the Annual Town Meeting warrant to replace a bylaw that deals with temporary repairs of private ways has been removed, though a citizen’s petition to amend that bylaw will remain.

Residents of King Road crowded into the Selectboard meeting room on May 19 to see what the board might do regarding these articles on the June 8 ATM warrant. Prior to the unanimous vote to remove Article 29, Town Manager Shaun Suhoski reassured the residents that an article they submitted via citizen’s petition to amend that bylaw will still be on the warrant.

“Town counsel put forward in April language regarding temporary repairs to private ways,” Suhoski explained as the discussion began, “and that’s on the warrant right now, unless the board wishes to hold off on it. The Finance Committee has not recommended this article (Article 29) for good reason, and I’m going to suggest it to this board as well.”

Article 29 would amend Chapter V, Section 33 of the town’s bylaws by removing the wording of Section 33 in its entirety and replacing it with new language.

The new wording describes temporary repairs as including “grading and/or the filling of holes or depressions, as the superintendent of public works may deem suitable…[I]n no event shall such temporary repairs include extensive construction, reconstruction or installation of drainage.” The work would be done at the discretion of the highway superintendent.

The article also states that a petition from three-fourths of the abutters on a private way asking for temporary repairs can be presented to the Selectboard and forwarded to the Department of Public Works director. It will be up to the director to determine whether the requested repairs constitute a “public necessity.” The Selectboard will then vote to either approve or deny the petition following a public hearing.

Article 29, said Suhoski, has numerous details to be considered, while also noting the two newest members of the Selectboard have had little time to review it. Among the issues to be weighed is whether work on private roads will be paid for through the town’s general fund. Private roads, he added, are not included on those covered by Chapter 90, meaning state funds could not be used for repairs. The town manager suggested the creation of a working group to better hammer out details of a new bylaw over the next few months.

“We’re going to need a fall town meeting so we could work on that bylaw; at least do it in a way that we’re not scrambling two weeks before town meeting to come up with something that may not be the right fit for the community,” he added

“I think having two articles on the warrant is confusing,” said board member Russell Raymond. “I think we should keep the citizen’s petition, which we have to keep (on the warrant) anyway, and at this time remove Article 29.”

Article 34, submitted as a citizen’s petition from residents of King Road and other private ways, would maintain the wording of Chapter V, Section 33, relative to private roads. It also calls for the town to “minimally maintain all asphalt private roads” in the town. Such maintenance would include annual filling of potholes “with use of only asphalt or asphalt-based materials” and “minimal repairs of road drainage issues,” such as repairs to culverts.

There are 33 private roads in Athol totaling about three miles in length. Of that number, only seven are plowed by the town in winter, through a memorandum of understanding approved by the Selectboard.

Town Counsel John Barrett said that passage of the petition language would be of questionable legality.

“In my opinion, it’s vague,” Barrett added. “It exceeds the town’s obligations to public ways. It’s basically detailing that potholes will only be filled through the use of asphalt. It’s carving out a special consideration for folks on private roads. What I had proposed with Article 29 was to give it a lot more structure than what is in the bylaw now. The bylaw now just says we adopt the state law that says we can fix private roads, without any scheme or plan as to how we’re going to do that.

“That’s the problem folks on King Road and other private roads have had,” said Barrett. “The town only gets to do it when the town has the time and the money to do it and, frankly, not really legally, because there’s no justification for it. But basically, the (petition) compels the town to do something it wouldn’t otherwise do, even on public roads.”

Barrett said it is his opinion the article originating with the citizen’s petition can’t be removed from the ATM warrant for later consideration in the fall.

“But at Town Meeting, people can decide whether it should be voted in or not and whether or not it should be deferred to a fall town meeting to get a better handle on things,” he said.

Public Works Director Paul Raskevitz agreed with Suhoski that the best way to proceed would be to set up a working group and work on an article regarding the town’s responsibility for private roads. When King Road residents raised concerns that this would mean no repairs would be done over the summer, Raskevitz said, “Last fall the board voted to do some temporary improvements. So, we’ll do what we can.”