BARRY’S BAY – It was a packed agenda for the Madawaska Valley Township council meeting on the evening of June 15.
Brian Martin, the lone delegation of the night, represented the Otter Lake Lane Cottagers Association. He has been at the council table on and off since 2011, asking for financial support to help maintain Otter Lake Lane.
The private road is maintained by the association, but is heavily traversed by residents accessing the nearby trail system. Previous council told the association that the township does not maintain private roads, nor will they maintain any road that is not brought up to municipal standards.
“The association found out that, yes, there was a private road that was being maintained by the council and this is Shalla Street in Wilno,” Martin said. “This is completely contrary to what we were told two years earlier.”
He also cited Olsheskie Road in Barry’s Bay, which is being maintained by the township and is not up to municipal standards.
The association sent a letter to the township at the time, asking why those roads are being maintained over others and how much money is being used on the road.
“We did not get a response to that letter,” he said.
Instead, Martin said the association received a letter from the township staff in 2013, indicating that a roads committee will be struck to look at what constitutes a private road versus a public road and what needs to be done to bring the roads up to standards.
“None of our questions were answered,” he said.
Get your June 17, 2015 edition of The Valley Gazette to read the full story.