HOULTON, Maine — Repairs to the town’s Gateway Crossing Bridge will now happen without impacting local taxpayer dollars.
The Houlton Town Council voted May 11 to expand its downtown Tax Increment Finance district to include the Gateway Crossing Bridge so funds from that district could be used to pay for needed repairs to the structure.
“This will essentially allow us to use TIF money to fix the bridge,” Houlton Town Manager Butch Asselin said recently.
The town has put off doing repairs on the bridge for about a year now because of the high cost, estimated at between $16,000 and $18,000. Some of the laminated wood on the arches have separated, allowing water to seep into crevices on the bridge.
“We brought an engineer in from H.E. Bergeron last fall and he examined the bridge, prepared a report and made some recommendations,” Asselin said.
One of those suggestions was to fill sections along the tops of the arches and to apply adhesive on the ends of the arches so water does not further permeate the wood.
Asselin said the repairs were labor intensive and would not require large purchases of materials. Part of the cost also involves having to use lift equipment to reach the top of the bridge. Asselin said he expects to put the project out to bid, since the town does not own any of the equipment needed to perform the repairs.
Asselin said he hopes to have the project completed this fall, but because expanding a TIF district is a lengthy process that involves working with the state Department of Economic and Community Development, he could not say for sure when the work would commence.
“The bridge is an asset to the town and we need to keep it in the best shape that we can,” Asselin said.