JP wrote:Our Non-Profit Association has hired the same contractor 2 years for the same project.  The road has washed out on a corner/culvert the cost was $375 per lot (18) owner the 1st year. Last year it again washed out and so did another culvert/driveway entrance and another driveway entrance....the contractor said the road needed grading, he was hired and it cost us $350 per lot owner.  Again this year the same areas as last year are washed out and it has been getting worse every time it rains. We contacted the President and he told us to call the contractor they used last year. Over a month has gone by without any response we are frustrated that the washout has tripled. We hired are own contractor to fix our driveway and our neighbor used the same people to fix his with no expense to the association....out of our own pocket. Now the association pres. is saying we should have gone through the association to have the roads repaired and that he looked at the washout and the contractor wants to charge us again to fix this same washout....its only $200. We find it unreasonable that we have to continue to pay to repair the same road every year.  It is obvious this contractor doesn't know what he is doing.  What can we do to protect ourselves from this unreasonable road repair and the bill we are going to be subjected to again?  Does anyone know what laws are in place to hold this contractor accountable so we don't have to pay him?  We feel he should fix the roads for free it hasn't even been a year since he said the roads were fixed.

This is an important situation as it is costing you needless money and also is not good environmentally as all that phosphorus in the gravel may well end up causing the water quality in any nearby lakes or streams to degrade. I suggest you contact the DEP (Department of Environmental Protection) to get information on any BMP's (Best Management Practices) that may be suitable for the situation on your road. Also, there is a Maine Local Roads Center at the DOT (Department of Transportation) and they have a pdf on a program that may still be going that can help: http://www.maine.gov/mdot/community-programs/csd/documents/phil-doc_000.pdf

By finding him through the Local Roads Center, Phil Curtis came to our road and suggested things that could help.