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Select Board approves $900,000 road-improvement work and forms Scenic and Rural Road committee
Summary
Voters approved Article 6 ($900,000) for town road upgrades; the Select Board approved work as spelled out and voted to form a Scenic and Rural Road committee to study scenic-road preservation amid debate about paving Trask Mountain Road.
The Select Board approved implementation steps for Article 6 — $900,000 in road improvements approved by voters — and also voted to create a Scenic and Rural Road committee to consider preservation and policy for scenic roads.
Town Manager James Pineo and DPW Director Steve Randall outlined the Article 6 scope and costs: Sewell Road shimming and top paving ($300,000); Beach Pond Road reclaim and base pave ($200,000); Trask Mountain Road base paving ($80,000); municipal parking lot/Linda’s Flowers ($30,000); Town Hall lot overlay ($40,000); Haines Hill Road culvert replacement ($80,000); and dirt-road upgrades for North Wakefield Road and Jonathan Hersey Road ($70,000), for a total of $900,000.
Several residents and Select Board members noted voter approval of both Article 6 and petition warrant Article 24 (scenic roads), producing tension over whether Trask Mountain should be paved. Richard Oedel (North Wolfeboro Area Association) urged following the petition to preserve scenic roads; others said the petition did not clearly instruct the board to exempt Trask Mountain. The board moved to establish a Scenic and Rural Road committee (motion by Linda Murray, second Brian Deshaies) to expand on a 2018 committee report; the motion passed 5-0.
The board then approved work details for Article 6 as presented; the roll-call vote to proceed with the specified improvements carried 4-1 (Mr. Deshaies voted no, favoring delay until committee recommendations were returned).
Why it matters: balancing voter direction on scenic-road preservation with infrastructure maintenance needs is a substantive local policy issue. The new committee will review criteria and community input to advise the Select Board on which roads to preserve in their current state and which should proceed with improvements.
Next steps: DPW will proceed with planning and scheduling for the listed projects; the Scenic and Rural Road committee will be formed to provide recommendations to the board.
