Issue: Plowing Private Ways
MA General Laws at play:
- Ch 40 Sec 6C is about snow plowing private ways accepted in 1973 at Town Meeting.
- Ch 80 is about the betterment with a municipal lien process accepted in 2025 at Town Meeting.
“This issue with private roads goes back to 2012 and originated with the DPW Commissioners, not the Select Board. The Town cannot legally perform work on private property in this case the private way, without permission, as it creates liability and takes time and materials away from public roads. The November 1st date is simply a deadline for roads to indicate if they wish to remain on the plow list…..it’s not a requirement that all work be completed by then as long as they show progress or have scheduled repairs. The Town encouraged each road to have a point of contact who communicates directly with the DPW, and anyone with questions is welcome to email the DPW who have been responsive. Our goal is for private property to be maintained so we can protect town employees and town equipment.
Ross Brackett, Select Board Member
During a storm EMS personnel will always get to you in case of an emergency whether that be a private road, public road or your walkway
The final decision to plow a road rests with the Select Board, who will decide based on the DPW director’s recommendation.”
List of Private and Public Roads including Plow List
DPW indicated that this year they sent letters to the roads highlighted in yellow. (Click at the bottom of the page to view other pages.)
DPW-Town-Streets-Private-and-Public-plow-list-and-yellow