By Curt Peterson
Several residents from Bird Hill Road in Hartland Four Corners petitioned the Select Board Monday evening to take over maintenance of their short private road accessed over a short bridge from Brownsville Road.
Deborah Davis, who lives in the first house, read a prepared presentation describing the history of homeowner maintenance over decades, including recently rebuilding the bridge, all at their own expense.
Bird Hill resident Peter Kaufman told the Mountain Times the homeowners have applied hardpack once a year, have funded bridge maintenance, and engage Lull’s Brook Landscaping to plow in winter, all at their own expense.
“We rebuilt the bridge eight years ago,” Kaufman said, “and each homeowner contributed $2,000 or $3,000 for the project.”
Now allegedly capable of carrying vehicles weighing up to 40,000 the number of steel I-beams supporting the span was doubled from 2 to 4, and the deck is made of heavy boards laminated on edge.
Kaufman lives in a cabin built in the ‘60s or early ‘70s, he said, and his was the first residence on the road at that time.
The Select Board reiterated the legal process involved when a town assumes responsibility for a previously private road. A site visit is scheduled for the afternoon prior to the next Select Board meeting, Nov. 18, followed by a public hearing and discussion at the meeting.
B. J. Mattson, Hartland’s newly-promoted highway department supervisor, said statutes require roads to be in certain condition before taxpayers assume future maintenance.
“Before Bird Hill Road can become a public byway,” Mattson said, “the homeowners have to lay on 3- to 4-inch (8 to 10 truckloads) of new hardpack. There is a culvert that may have to be enlarged to meet state requirements, too. And all this is on the residents’ dime, not the taxpayers.”
According to Mattson, one issue the town has with other unpaved roads is lack of a place to turn the plow trucks around.
“This isn’t a problem with Bird Hill Road,” he said. “There’s a good turnaround at the end. It’s not a bad road.”
At the Select Board meeting Mattson mentioned re-ditching with stone lining as a possible requirement where the road is steep.
Davis said there are similar roads the town maintains, that are not in as good condition or as wide as Bird Hill Road. She also mentioned there are currently five children living on the road, “soon to be six” and she thinks statutes require school bus access if there’s five or more.
“We pay the same taxes as everyone else in town, so we feel we should get the same services for our road,” Davis said.
Kaufman said their neighborhood isn’t one of the wealthier areas in Hartland, but he is sure they can and will meet whatever requirements there are for making Bird Hill Road a town responsibility.
