RUMFORD — The Rumford Board of Selectmen voted Thursday night to approve the Nov. 6 town warrant with one exception: paying a bill of $106,000 for paving on Maine Avenue done by Bruce A. Manzer Inc. of Anson.

Board member Peter Chase expressed concern about the seams left as a result of the Maine Avenue paving job.

Selectman Mark Belanger said, “I was glad to see that Maine Avenue was done (paving), but I was really sad to see the botched-up job. I’ve had several calls. I even called Manzer myself because he’s done work for the church . . . This was just unacceptable . . . There was some places I measured were an inch, an inch and a quarter higher than the other level. You wait and wait to get something done, and then when you get it done, it was really disappointing.”

“It’s strange because he had good weather for it,” acting Board of Selectmen Chairman Jeff Sterling said. “They usually do an outstanding job.”

Selectman Frank DiConzo surmised that Manzer must have “used men who were in training” for the project.

Town Manager John Madigan said he would ask Manzer to attend the Nov. 19 selectmen meeting to explain what happened.

“That’s too bad,” Sterling noted. “They have a very good reputation and I know they’ve done fantastic work in the past. Hopefully, it’s just an anomaly.”

In other business, Madigan was told by Cheryl Dickson of the River Valley Chamber of Commerce that the Rumford Information Center is in dire need of volunteers. Without volunteers “to put in a few hours here and there,” he said the information center will have to shut down from Nov. 15 until the first part of January.

Madigan said a contractor tightened up the Haverill Bridge near the upper gate of the mill. As a result, they have taken off the lower load weight limit of 10 tons. It’s back to where it used to be, with heavier trucks like firetrucks now able to cross over that bridge if needed.

Belanger said the “Welcome to Rumford” sign coming from Mexico into Rumford near Hosmer Field is in terrible shape and should either be repaired or taken down.

“We should really take it down if it’s not going to be fixed,” he said. “It’s the gateway to the Rumford area and it looks like hell.”

Also in attendance were three girls from Chris Carver’s government class at Mountain Valley High School. Asked by Sterling to approach the board to sign a paper showing they had attended, the girls instead shot a selfie with board members.

“We’re good,” one of the girls said, and they left. 

bfarrin@sunmediagroup.net