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Ellsworth council to review private-road maintenance agreement after Sergeant Drive accident
Summary
A council member relayed a constituent complaint about an overturned dump truck on Sergeant Drive that allegedly released contaminants; Public Works Director Mike Harris said staff held after-action meetings, a police report exists, and the city will search for any prior agreement and consider formalizing private-road service policies.
A council member raised a constituent complaint about Sergeant Drive, a private road that a homeowner association reported the city had serviced, and asked whether a past dump-truck accident that allegedly released oil or other contaminants into Branch Pond had been cleaned up.
"Could we clean up our mess?" the council member asked about the incident. Staff responded that crews had used sand to contain the material but had not returned to complete a cleanup because a storm followed. Mike Harris, the city's public works director, told the council the department held meetings after the accident to review protocols and ensure proper documentation and that he would investigate whether staff had contacted the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and whether there was a formal agreement with the association.
Harris said the city had held follow-up meetings to determine appropriate protocol and that a police report does exist. "If there's no written agreement and we can't find any record of a formal agreement, then I don't understand why we were putting ourselves at risk and our vehicles at risk," Harris said, urging staff to locate any records of an existing agreement or to recommend a formal contract if none exists.
Council members pressed for consistency, noting it would be unfair and nontransparent to provide services to one private road on a handshake basis while excluding others. Staff explained the current operational approach: the HOA president must request sanding/grading and the city then schedules work and bills the association at season's end; staff provided a staff phone number for scheduling. Council members asked staff to produce an after-action report for the constituent and to check incident notification procedures, including whether DEP notice should be added to the protocol. No formal policy change or vote was taken; members asked staff to return with findings.
Next steps: Public Works will search for any prior agreement, prepare the after-action report requested by the constituent, and recommend whether the city should adopt a formal, consistent policy for private-road maintenance.
