FARMINGTON — The Select Board awarded a $2.65 million contract Tuesday to a Smithfield company for the first phase of the Main Street improvement project.
Work is expected to begin before the end of June to meet the town’s agreement with the Maine Department of Transportation.
The plans include new granite curbing and islands, 5‑foot‑wide sidewalks that comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, changes to the traffic flow through the Intervale and decorative lighting.
Under the proposed traffic pattern, southbound drivers approaching the bridge would need to use the left lane to turn onto Farmington Falls Road. Only vehicles in the right lane would be allowed to cross the bridge.
The northbound pattern would remain largely the same, but crews would add more stenciled arrows and a new island to reinforce the turn‑only lane directing traffic up Front Street.
Hippach Field’s wall would be replaced with a brick wall featuring granite‑inlaid rectangular openings to maintain visibility of the field. The utility poles along the wall would be moved to the opposite side of the street, and an underground conduit would provide power for the field facilities.
The dirt parking lot would be squared off and paved. Additional parking would be added along Prescott Street, which would be widened.
Farther up Main Street, the sidewalk elevation would be lowered by as much as 3 feet with the help of a retaining wall to improve visibility for motorists turning from South Street. The centerline of Main Street near the Sweatt‑Winter Child Care and Early Education Center would shift to make the curve less sharp.
A second phase would address Main Street from South Street to Anson Street.
Six companies submitted bids for the project, ranging from $2,656,647 to $4,150,450. Public Works Director Philip Hutchins recommended awarding the contract to Scully Construction of Smithfield, the low bidder by more than $250,000.
Select Board member Dennis O’Neil said Scully Construction’s proposal appeared to meet the town’s needs but questioned whether the smaller company could manage a $2.65 million project.
“Given the past experience in pretty significant, heavy civil projects in the state of Maine and New England,” owner Brendan Scully said, “I’m certainly comfortable managing the subcontractors and schedule.”
Under the terms of the Municipal Partnership Initiative grants funding the project, work must begin in June and finish within two years. Scully said he intends to complete the work this year.
An early step would be relocating the utility poles that line Hippach Field along Main Street to the opposite side of the road.
“Those poles — along the baseball field and swimming pool — have got to get moved like tomorrow,” Scully said.
Traffic would be diverted mainly during the milling and paving stages, Scully said. Much of the work — removing the brick wall along Hippach, adding curbing, and moving covers and grates — would not significantly disrupt the traffic pattern.
“You have room there to push traffic over and still maintain adequate width, especially coming down the hill and round the corner for a loaded truck,” he said.
Select Board Vice Chairman Richard Morton noted that the town tries to favor local contractors when possible. One of the other bidders, Sargent Corp., has local ties through its acquisition of E.L. Vining & Son Inc. But Morton said the gap between the two bids — $3.05 million for Sargent and $2.65 million for Scully — was too large to award Sargent the contract.
The board voted unanimously to award the bid to Scully Construction.
A contract still needs to be signed by the company and the town, with oversight from the state Department of Transportation. The state’s Municipal Partnership Initiative grant will cover half the project cost, with the remainder coming from the town’s road capital reserve fund.
The board also reviewed an ongoing upgrade to the town’s website. The current site is unsupported, Town Manager Erica LaCroix said, and department heads cannot update their own pages. Any issues must be handled by town staff members.
The upgraded site would include a 311 system, which allows residents to report concerns and incidents, and Broadcast, which lets people opt in to receive town alerts, notices and other updates directly on their cellphones or by email.
LaCroix put the improvements in the context of the 2023 storms that caused widespread flooding, road closures and downed limbs across the town and state. Town officials had no way to contact residents directly.
“That was really my vision for having something like this,” LaCroix said, “was having a much better way to reach the public as incidents were unfolding.”
Residents would need to sign up for Broadcast. LaCroix noted that the Community Resilience Partnership, or CRP, grant includes funding for outreach, and she plans to send notifications with QR codes in next year’s tax and sewer bills. The town will also hold a meeting on the system.
“Looks like a nice system, a good idea,” board member Scott Landry Jr. said. “I think the problem, though, is selling it — educating the public.”
More than one meeting would likely be needed, he said.
The upgrade is being handled by Town Cloud, which also runs the town’s agenda archive. The company has about 50 customers in Maine and operates in most states. The cost would be $15,000 annually, the lowest of the three bids the town received.
The CRP grant of $56,315 — aimed at upgrading Farmington’s communication system — will fund 18 months of support for the site, along with the marketing and administrative work required by the grant.
