At the July 20 Livermore Board of Selectpersons meeting, Gary Crouse center complained of neighbors using exploding targets. Also pictured are highway foreman Roger Ferland at right and fire chief Donald Castonguay. Pam Harnden/Livermore Falls Advertiser

LIVERMORE — Monday, July 20, Selectpersons were told a snowplow turnaround was no longer available and an explosive targets complaint was shared.

“A resident has had enough of people trespassing on her property,” Highway foreman Roger Ferland said.

“We’ve litigated this with the town already with her,” Selectperson Tracey Martin said. “There’s a cemetery beyond the turnaround we have to maintain public access to. I’m sorry she doesn’t like people turning around there, but she really has no choice.”

Lois Allen lives at 45 Old Leavitt Road. Old Leavitt Cemetery is located at the end of that road. Approach to the cemetery comes off the turnaround, according to Town Clerk Renda Guild.

“We have no turnaround at this point,” Ferland said.

Martin asked if there was a plan for plowing.

“Not now. We will have to find another turnaround,” Ferland said. “We built the turnaround 10-11 years ago. They bailed on us two times.”

“There had been one at the top of the hill. Then because of litigation, we had to go to the bottom of the hill,” Martin said.

“I’m not sure where we’re going to go with this,” Ferland said.

Regarding the explosive targets, Gary Crouse said he moved to Livermore in October, 2016, and had no issues. In late 2018 people bought property and moved up Memorial weekend, 2019, he said.

“Lately they started using these exploding targets,” Crouse said. “They mix their own, gets a big bang. It vibrates my house every time. There’s about a 16 foot crack from my dining room to living room. The house is only 21 years old.”

The chickens and his wife are being scared, Crouse said.

“They say they’re not shaking my house. I can’t deal with them,” Crouse said.

Sherry Estes is the neighbor according to Amy Byron, former administrative assistant to the Livermore Board of Selectpersons. She is filling in until a replacement can be found.

“They are using tannerite,” she said Monday, July 27. “(Fire Chief) Donald Castonguay checked. Unless the town has an ordinance, there is nothing we can do.”

Some people might like to use them at a reasonable distance, so he doesn’t want to ban them, Crouse said.

“I can see other people having serious issues with them, (such as) a veteran with PTSD,” he said. “The sheriff came out once, said ‘The way the law is, our hands are tied.’ They just shoot constantly, hundreds and hundreds of shots.”

Castonguay asked if the targets were within 300 feet of Crouse’s house.

“If so, that would be a game warden issue,” Castonguay said.

Resident Jim Manter said there is a way to monitor the strength of the targets using a seismometer.

“They’re often used in construction areas. I don’t know what the limits would be or where you would go with it. There is a way to determine scientifically,” he said.

After spending four years clearing his property to farm, Crouse said he can’t farm anything with the explosions going on.

Also at issue is work being done on Estes’s driveway.

“They’re dragging their driveway down to the turnaround and making a bowl, making sure I’m going to get all that water that comes right down the road to me,” Crouse said. “Gravel in the turnaround is going back up to their driveway.”

“We have authority. We can address the turnaround, stop that,” Selectperson Scott Richmond said.

“They’re stealing our gravel,” Selectperson Chairman Mark Chretien said. “We make sure your turnaround is in perfect shape. We’ll address that.”

Livermore will be holding an informational meeting at 6 p.m. today, July 29, via Zoom on the proposed medical marijuana ordinance.