Holbrook Excavating of Woolwich, which contracted with the town of Dresden for three years of plowing and sanding for Dresden during the winter months, has decided it cannot do the work as planned for the second winter of its contract.

The company’s decision came up during the regular meeting of the Dresden Board of Selectmen this Monday, Sept. 9 in which it gave two reasons for withdrawal from the three-year agreement.

Company owners gave lack of bonding and insufficient equipment for the task for this coming winter as reasons for discontinuing work in Dresden.

The town was supposed to pay for the work in three installments with this coming season to cost the town $139,977.

Now the community will have to seek other bidders. Selectmen determined they should contact Maine Municipal Association for advice on whether the town should seek to accept the low bidder for the contract last year or initiate a new bidding process.

Selectmen decided to send the contractor a statement dismissing the company from the three-year agreement.

Concerning other road issues, Selectman Allan Moeller informed the board about the progress of planned road projects throughout the town including the paving of several hundred feet of the start of Bog Road.

Also, selectmen decided to start the bidding process for winter sand in the amount of 2000 yards. They set the deadline for bids as October 7.

In other business, selectmen discussed the Saturday burning of a home as a training session for the local fire department. The successful work on the property will make room for the new multi-million bridge project now in progress.

The board also discussed differences a homeowner has had concerning code enforcement issues. The code enforcement officer, whom Dresden shares with Richmond, responded to the questions the homeowner had in an email he forwarded to the board for its approval.

Old Town Hall open house

Selectmen announced during their Monday session an open house the town will hold on Sunday, Sept. 22 from noon to 3 p.m. Originally the town had planned to have an open house earlier this summer during its Summer Fest celebration, which did not occur.

The Old Town Hall, which the town no longer uses for various town hearings and gatherings, has a Civil War Monument on one of the walls, which interests several area residents. So the open house will provide many interested people an opportunity to view the historic site and monument.