LIVERMORE — Selectpersons voted Monday to advertise a vacant highway foreman position to current staff to see if anyone is interested, town administrative assistant Kurt Schaub said Tuesday.

The position was left vacant after the select board fired former foreman Don St. Laurent of Canton on April 14.

The board plans to interview candidates, if any apply, at its next meeting on Monday, May 9, at the town office.

Board members will decide whether to hire within or look elsewhere to fill the position, Schaub said.

Selectpersons also agreed to temporarily adjust wages for the remaining two, full-time department employees since they are handling more duties in the absence of a foreman.

Roger Ferland, who is acting as interim foreman, had his pay increased from $14.50 an hour to $18 an hour, and Ron Greenwood had his wages increased from $13.09 per hour to $15, Schaub said. The increases are retroactive to April 15.

The board also dealt with several road issues. One was to buy road signage and safety gear for $2,200.

“We were incredibly deficient on cones and barricades,” he said.

After comparable shopping on the Internet was done, Schaub said, the materials were ordered from the town’s standard vendor, White Sign Co. in Stillwater. The difference between prices was about $150, he said.

Town officials decided to go with White because “we basically knew what we were getting,” Schaub said. Otherwise they would be buying something without seeing the products, he said.

Ferland informed the board that a culvert was lost on April 17 on Old Leavitt Road, located off Route 108 at the north end of Brettuns Pond, Schaub said. There were two, 3-foot culverts under the road to handle the flow of a stream, he said.

“By all accounts the outlet from one of the culverts was plugged up with snow and ice and we had a heavy rainstorm which increased the flow of the stream and a tree partly blocked the inlet of the other culvert,” he said.

That made water come over the road and the road gave way and eventually washed one of the two culverts about 300 feet downstream, Schaub said.

“Our road crew with the help from contractor Matt Dion and help and advice from the Jay Highway Department were able to have the road reopened within 24 hours of the problem,” he said.

The final cost of the project was unknown Tuesday but it was known that 324 yards of gravel and culvert pipe were needed as part of the repairs.

“The No. 1 concern was to restore access to those residents and to make sure emergency services could reach them,” he said.

The town appreciates the Jay help and Livermore resident Bob Pulsifer who allowed access over a bridge he built on his property, a little bit north of the washout site so residents could get vehicles out in emergency situations, Schaub said.

Schaub said he also reported on a letter he received from Central Maine Power Co. on Monday, advising that they have begun the process of installing Smart-meters for Livermore customers.

The contractor doing the installation is VSI Meter Services. People can expect to see the business’ vehicles that are clearly marked during the day, he said. The company’s employees will also be wearing identification.

dperry@sunjournal.com