The Lisbon Reporter

WELCOME TO THE LISBON REPORTER. In an effort to keep our community informed of what is going on at local and Federal levels of government, we decided to create this on-line newspaper. It is our hope that this on-line newspaper will help you stay informed so that you can get involved and take action for the benefit of our ENTIRE community. Thank you for visiting and please check back frequently for information about what is happening in LISBON/LISBON FALLS, MAINE USA

Tuesday, March 7, 2017

WHY CAN’T WE TAKE CARE OF OUR ROADS/STREETS/ACCESS WAYS?

I was always taught, in order to extend the life of your equipment, to perform timely routine maintenance. I think most people now a day understand the value in this; that is with the exception of our Public Works Director, E. Ryan Leighton and our Town Manager, Diane Barnes.

Let’s take a simple case of the Asphalt Reclaimer the people purchased to take care of potholes in the winter. This piece of equipment cost the people $31,490.00 back in September 2, 2014. The Asphalt Reclaimer arrived on or about January 23, 2015. For two years and one month, the town has NOT performed any maintenance on this piece of equipment. After two requests for the maintenance record, the Town Manager, Diane Barnes, notified me that the Asphalt Reclaimer was going to have maintenance performed on it on or about Monday, January 30, 2017.

Since July 1, 2016 until March 1, 2017 the Asphalt Reclaimer has 45 hours of use on it. Does anyone still wonder why the town of Lisbon is full of potholes? Anyone with common sense would start with roads/streets or access ways that are heavily traveled to repair first. I do not know of any road/street/access way traveled more that the access way at the Public works Garage because almost everyone utilizes the Transfer Station.

So every year, we go through the same situation with potholes throughout the access way. What’s more, neither E. Ryan Leighton nor Diane Barnes has the common sense to put warning devices to warn drivers of these potholes until they can be repaired. Think about this; how far does the Asphalt Reclaimer have to travel to repair the access way?

This Asphalt Reclaimer was purchased to resolve the town’s problem of potholes and has it been utilized to do this. I think NOT. How many other devices that should require timely routine maintenance are receiving timely maintenance? How long are we going to be able to keep these devices operational before we have to replace it? E Ryan Leighton does not live in town and does not have to pay for replacing these devices. He is quick to want to replace worn out equipment but will do nothing to prolong the life of these devices.

What do you expect when you have an individual with no credentials in charge of Public Works? We never had this problem with Button Beale was the Public Works Director.

Larry Fillmore