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Hubbardston Select Board adopts revised private‑way plowing policy with new eligibility and waiver rules
Summary
The Select Board adopted an updated private‑way plowing policy that sets minimum road dimensions, clarifies eligibility under Massachusetts precedent, requires a town right‑of‑entry and 100% abutter waiver for town plowing, and establishes an annual application cycle.
The Hubbardston Select Board voted Nov. 17 to adopt an updated private‑way plowing policy and a right‑of‑entry/waiver form intended to clarify when town equipment will plow private roads.
DPW staff and town counsel had worked through edits from KP Law and the Department of Public Works. The policy sets minimum physical standards — a 15‑foot minimum roadway width and a 20‑foot vertical clearance — and requires a paved or hard‑packed surface that can be plowed without damaging town equipment. Under the updated text, roads with potholes or rutting exceeding 3 inches are ineligible, and the DPW director retains final discretion on passability. As one draft line reads, "The DPW has final discretion to determine whether a private road surface is passable and safe for the town's plowing equipment." (board discussion)
The policy also incorporates legal precedent on what counts as a private way "open to public use" and adds a procedural framework: applicants must submit a packet (including deed information, map/parcel numbers and an executed waiver) during an annual window; applications are valid for three years and must be reinitiated by residents at the end of that cycle unless DPW confirms compliance via inspection. The board retained an exclusion for "unaccepted subdivision roads constructed after 01/01/1985" to protect the town from unanticipated liabilities on newer, unaccepted subdivisions.
A significant operational requirement is a waiver/right‑of‑entry signed by all abutters. Legal counsel warned the town may not obtain every abutter's signature and urged the board to decide whether to require 100% participation; the board left the threshold at 100% in the adopted language. The policy also excludes roads that are "merely a shared driveway servicing fewer than three residential properties."
The board discussed practical details including who in town offices will collect the application packet and how the timeline will integrate with budget appropriations; the adopted annual timeline sets an Aug. 1 application start and a Sept. 1 deadline, with DPW producing an eligibility list for Select Board review and designation.
The Select Board approved the policy and the right‑of‑entry form by voice vote.
