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Select board imposes short moratorium on drainage work on class‑6 roads after unauthorized machinery use
Summary
Following concerns about machine work at a culvert and beaver deceiver on a class‑6 road, the board voted 4–1 to bar private drainage work on town class‑6 roads pending a policy review; emergency DPW repairs were exempted.
The Bow Select Board on Aug. 12 enacted a temporary moratorium — approved 4–1 — that prevents private parties from performing drainage work on town class‑6 (unmaintained) roads without board approval. The motion included an explicit exception allowing Bow Public Works to perform emergency drainage repairs.
The action followed an extended discussion about an incident in which machinery was used to alter a culvert and an older concrete pipe near a beaver deceiver. Tim Sweeney, Bow’s public‑works director, told the board the department did not authorize any machinery use on the site and that town policy requires attempts to manage beaver problems by hand before resorting to mechanical excavation. He said the deceiver exists to maintain a set water level and that mechanical disturbance can cause unintended downstream effects and road undermining.
Sweeney explained the town’s beaver management approach: crews first try hand methods and, if necessary and after due process, install protective devices such as three‑sided wooden “beaver boxes” that allow water to flow while reducing damming. He said RSA rules restrict digging or placing machinery in water without permits and that the town will use machinery only in emergencies (for example, threatening road undermining or public safety).
Select Board members expressed concern about gray areas in the current permitting and enforcement processes for class‑6 roads. Several members asked staff to draft a clearer policy that ties excavation or drainage permits to an explicit review by the Select Board and to add a permit stream for logging or homeowner‑initiated access that affects a class‑6 road. The board charged staff to return with a comprehensive recommendation at the Sept. 9 meeting.
Outcome: motion to place a short moratorium on private drainage work on class‑6 roads (emergency DPW activities excepted) passed 4–1. One member voted no. The board requested staff and counsel prepare a proposed permit framework for class‑6 road work and a procedure for notifying abutters.
