Infrastructure committee considers discontinuing portion of Miller Street; hears project updates

The Bangor City Infrastructure Committee on Monday discussed beginning the city's process to discontinue a portion of Miller Street and heard updates from the city engineer on multiple construction projects.

Chair Susan Dean opened the meeting and asked the committee to consider authorizing staff to begin the formal discontinuation process for a stretch of Miller Street that the engineering department described as serving a small number of properties. City Engineer Jeff Davis told the committee, "It's just over half an acre of right of way that we're asking for." He said the right-of-way is about 80 feet wide and that some city-owned utilities in that section would be transferred to the property owners if the discontinuance proceeds.

Davis said the discontinuance is a two-step city process: the committee would authorize staff to start the process, staff would notify abutters and hold a meeting, and the engineer would later return to the committee with a final engineer's report for referral to the full council. At the meeting a motion to begin the discontinuance process was made and seconded; the transcript does not record a formal vote tally or the committee's final disposition.

Davis also briefed the committee on ongoing and upcoming public-works work across the city. He said the Randolph Sewer Improvement Project recently completed a final phase adding roughly 1,000 feet of new sewer line as part of a multi-year redevelopment. Drainage work on Ham Street near Hillman Street is underway; the city has DOT grants to complete final paving and curve work on that corridor. A Fourteenth Street bicycle-improvement project and work on Main Avenue are both funded by grants; the Main Avenue bid results came in higher than expected and will be re-bid with a longer completion window so construction can begin in early spring.

Other items Davis mentioned included a state-funded resurfacing project from Griffin to Davis Road that will add new curbs and sidewalks, ongoing repairs to a failing retaining wall planned for the spring, small-yearly repair contracts that address EPA consent-decree priorities, and continued MS4 stormwater compliance work. He said a recently hired engineer has taken on several project-management tasks and a consultant is assisting with outfall inspections.

The transcript shows limited committee discussion beyond clarifying questions about timelines and the pump stations serving developing areas; no formal ordinances, resolutions, or contract awards were recorded in the transcript for final action.

The committee adjourned after the updates.