Private Ways with Winter Maintenance

1 MEETING REMAINS FOR COUNCIL TO ACCEPT DESIGNATED PRIVATE WAY ROAD EASEMENTS


The council must formally act to accept the easements. 

Meeting dates and deadlines:


Council MeetingAgenda PublishedMaterials Needed
September 26, 2023September 21,2023September 20, 2023
Sign for Roads Indicating Winter Services to End after winter 2022-2023

Some common things associations have experienced with their submitted easements that have resulted in delays:

1. Only one owner of record signs the easement. (All deeded owners of record must sign the easement)

2. Photocopies are submitted. (Only original documents are accepted at the registry of deeds.)

3. Notaries fail to print the name of the signer on their portion or the names are misspelled.

Please call 892-1907 with questions.

The Deadline to Conform to L.D. 1975 is Approaching

Roads classified as Designated Private Ways by private and special law L.D. 1975, (which are private roads that the Town has plowed for more than 20 years), will have signs physically posted on the roads to inform residents that their road has not yet met the law's requirements. The deadline to have the Town Council accept your road's easement agreements is October 1, 2023.

THE LAW REQUIRES:

  1. THE ROAD BE UNDER THE PURVIEW OF AN ASSOCIATION WITH THE AUTHORITY TO ADDRESS MAINTENANCE ISSUES.
  2. THE TOWN COUNCIL OR ASSIGNED ROAD COMMISSIONER MUST NOTIFY THE ROAD ASSOCIATION OF BASIC MAINTENANCE THAT MUST BE MET BY SEPT 1ST FOLLOWING THE NOTICE DATE.
  3. AT LEAST 67% OF THE OWNERS OF THE PROPERTY ABUTTING THE DESIGNATED PRIVATE WAY HAVE ISSUED A PUBLIC EASEMENT TO THE TOWN.

What you can do today:

  1. If your road has an association, and has not yet informed the Town Manager's Office, call 892-1907.
    1. Forward a copy of the association by-laws.
    2. Provide the association's officer contact information.
  2. Talk to your neighbors about forming an association, volunteer to begin the process, set an informal meeting to discuss the issue and next steps. 
    1. Review the "Resource binder materials" link below to guide you in forming an association.
    2. Reach out to the Town Manager's Office with questions. 

The Town is unable to extend this date for compliance. Your attention is vital to bring this to a resolution.

The information on this webpage is to assist our residents and Road Associations or Home Owners Associations (HOA's) in creating a solution to the long practice of the Town providing winter maintenance on certain Private Ways.   There are a series of links below with summaries describing the information for each link.  

We recommend you start with the Town Q and A, then look at the appropriate summaries and links for your needs.  

The short summary of this problem is that the Town entered in agreements to plow certain private roads many years ago. Those agreements over the years have not been renewed and are now expired.    The Town under Maine law cannot provide public assistance on a private road.   To correct this past practice and in fairness to the residents and Town, a solution is needed.    The Town needs a mechanism which balances the solution and involves a private and special law allowing public vehicles on certain private ways and a local ordinance to regulate the oversight.   The Town sought this special and private legislation to accomplish this task on these certain roads.  

  • Public Easement Deed Language
  • Correspondence to Property Owners   
    • Reminder letter of approaching October 1, 2023 deadline
    • Follow up letter informing of final and approved Private & Special Law  L.D. 1975 (5/19/2022)
    • Initial letter from the Town Manager summarizing the issue, state legislation requirements and next steps. (11/4/2021)
  • The Town Q and A 
    • Provides a broad overview of the history, problem, data on the number of streets, affected parcels, challenges of the solution and what the timeline needs to be.   
    • The Q & A document was revised to include comments, questions and answers from the special meeting of     December 7, 2021.   Please refer to the December 7th meeting agenda and video to learn more.
    • Revised May 16, 2022 to incorporate changes when law was amended by the state legislative committee and signed by the Governor  (L.D. 1723 was renumbered to L.D. 1975 when signed and effectively became law)
  • Private and Special Law for Windham
    • Provides the language presented to the Maine Legislature requesting a Private and Special bill to enable Windham to develop a solution that conforms to Maine Law.  The Town Council requested assistance from our legislative delegation to have this Private and Special Law.
    • Governor signed the private and special law on April 4, 2022
  • Local Ordinance for the Winter Maintenance of Designated Ways
    • Article III Winter Maintenance of Designated Ways ordinance, of Chapter 204 the Streets & Sidewalks Ordinance, was approved by the Council on October 26, 2021.   Please refer to the following Council meeting agendas, videos and minutes to learn more:
      • March 23, 2021 - Order 21-069 (Authorized Town Manager and Attorney to work with Legislators)
      • August 10, 2021 - Discussion CD 21-101 (State Legislation, Draft Local Ordinance and Public Information) 
      • September 14, 2021 - Discussion CD 21-127 (Draft Local Ordinance and Public Information)
      • September 28, 2021 -  Discussion CD 21-135 (Draft Local Ordinance, Inspection List and Q & A)
      • October 12, 2021 -  Order 21-190 (Public Comment Local Ordinance - action postponed to 10/26/21)
      • October 26, 2021 - Order 21-190 (Public Comment continued & vote which approved the ordinance)
      • January 11, 2022 - Order 22-007 (Public Hearing and Action on amendment to section 210-25)
      • May 24, 2022 - Discussion 22-73 (Law Approval - Required amendments to sections 210-25 and 210-26)
      • June 16, 2022 - Order 22-107 (Public Hearing and Action on amendments to sections 210-25 and 210-26) 
    • Please note that the Town's ordinances were recently codified (resorted and alphabetized) which resulted in new chapter numbers being assigned.  The Streets & Sidewalks ordinance was renumbered to Chapter 204.
    • Sample of an Inspection Checklist to be utilized by Road Commissioner.
      • The Public Works Director and Town Engineer are driving down all designated private ways and performing inspections now.  Reports will be provided this summer so that affected residents and associations have an idea of maintenance items they may need to address and within what timeframe.
  • Windham Road Classification Map and Resources
  • Road Associations – Maine Department of Environmental Protection (MDEP)
  1. The MDEP provides an excellent summary why a Road Association and a “Guide to forming Road Associations”.    This is one of the better sites to become educated on Road Associations or HOA’s with what they offer and several “How To” resources.
  2. The Online Appendices to the Guide contains sample association agreements, meeting notices, warranties, etc.