UPPER ENCHANTED TOWNSHIP — In their 13 years of owning a camp off the aptly named No Road, Norman and Lisa Lapointe have never had significant problems getting to it – until last week.

“The devastation is unbelievable,” said Lisa Lapointe, 51, as the couple and several of their neighbors surveyed the damage to the road Saturday, about five days after severe flash flooding hit the isolated area. “I just can’t imagine how much rain fell to do this.”

The Lapointes, who live in Vassalboro, are one of about 30 property owners on No Road who were cut off by the flooding and a road washout Tuesday. Five days after the flooding, massive piles of rocks and boulders blocked the base of the road, and water was still flowing through ravines that had cut through the gravel.

For now the Lapointes and others are accessing their property via a 45-minute detour over other private roads and ATV trails, and they have little hope that their road association will get outside funding to help pay for the damage.

State and local officials, including the heads of area road associations, last week estimated damages on the network of roads to cost hundreds of thousands of dollars and said they were exploring options to help pay for repairs – but by the end of the week nothing had turned up. Somerset county commissioners are scheduled to discuss the topic Wednesday, Sen. Rod Whittemore, R-Skowhegan, said Sunday.

“Nobody really has any hope at this point,” said Ernie Shufelt, the president of the No Road Owners Road Association. Shufelt said he estimates the damage to No Road is about $100,000 worth and if it is to be paid for by the road owners would cost about $3,300 each.

Advertisement

There are few other provisions that help private road owners in the case of natural disasters. County officials said last week that it would be unlikely they could use county funds to repair private roads, and the director of Maine Emergency Management Agency said they also could not assist with repairs.

The private ways statute does allow municipalities to contribute funds toward private road repairs for the purpose of protecting or restoring a great pond. Nearby Parlin Pond, which meets the state’s criteria for a great pond, collects runoff from the affected area according to some residents, but several also expressed skepticism Sunday as to whether the proximity of the pond could play into a plan for repairing area roads.

Also, because the pond and affected roads are located within unorganized territory, it is unclear whether the county could provide assistance rather than a municipality.

Sen. Rod Whittemore, who has been working on the issue, said Sunday that the damage to the roads will likely be in the hundreds of thousands and that he was not sure what the impact of the storm has been on Parlin Pond. The Parlin Pond Bridge, which is part of U.S. Route 201, was washed out during the flash flooding, forcing a 100-mile detour after the bridge was severely eroded Tuesday. The bridge reopened Thursday morning.

No Road is one of several in a network of private roads in the unorganized territory of Somerset County that sustained damage when more than 7 inches of rain fell in a five-hour period Tuesday. All of the property owners on No Road have been able to find a way in and out of their camps and properties, several of them relying on ATV trails for access. But even the ATV trails took a hit in the storm, many people said.

“It’s going to impact this region dramatically,” said Amy Jacob, whose family owns a camp on Grace Pond but who was surveying the damage on No Road Saturday. “So many of the trails are damaged, which means people aren’t going to be riding on them and they aren’t going to be spending money on food or lodging. It will have an impact on tourism.”

 


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.