Believe that the town says the 4-mile long Meredith Neck Rd is owned by the state, and the state says it is owned by the town. Last Thursday or so, I asked one of the NH-DOT guys who was controlling traffic with a flashing stop sign there at the beautiful horse farm what was up with the road, and he said that the town owns the road, but the NH-DOT does the maintenance repairs in the summer, while the town removes the snow. He said the road is going to get a shim coat, whatever a shim coat is? ...... I had to move along due to other cars coming up behind me..... so I didn't get time to ask him 'what's a shim coat?'
There's a website somewhere .....maybe the NH-DOT..... that says that the un-numbered state roads like the Meredith Neck Rd ...... are destined to become local town roads .... and the NH-DOT will pay 2/3 paving cost.....if the local town pays 1/3 paving cost .....and thereafter, it is entirely the responsibility of the town; paving, maintenance, and snow removal.
From Jan/Feb 2013, this article talks about the Meredith Neck Rd at the bottom of the page.
http://www.nhmunicipal.org/TownAndCity/Article/493
Considering that the Meredith Neck Rd is a four mile long road that is entirely within the one Town of Meredith, and it accesses about 50% of the taxable property in the town, and includes numerous Lake Winnipesaukee waterfront homes, it definitely should become a local town owned road that is entirely the responsibility of the town. Meredith should be a responsible town and pursue the NH-DOTs standing offer of the 2/3 state, 1/3 town pavement redo.
Is it possible for the town to hit the road users with a special assessment specifically aimed at home owners that must use the Meredith Neck Rd to get to their homes? You know.....if you don't a-wanta use dis damn road ....then a-go getta youself a little helicopter ...... or, a boat! ... ha-ha-ha!!!
I believe a shim coat is a patch pavement job where the worst road pavement areas get 3/4" asphalt skim coated with a tar patch topping sort like a spackle coat, while the Barnard Ridge Rd got the old pavement scarfed or ground up, and replaced with a new asphalt overlay.
Barnard Ridge Rd, a one mile long road, was on the list of roads to be done by the state for 2015. I do not know if the state paid for it entirely, or if it was split 2/3-state, 1/3-town, with the town being totally responsible in the future?
So's, it seems the four mile long Meredith Neck Rd will get a 3/4" shim coat, which is not as thorough a redo as a scarf-grind up and overlay asphalt paving which is what was done on one mile long, Barnard Ridge Rd.
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Just a thought here ..... thinking about the etymology of this unusual name ...... 'shim coat' ........ maybe, someone actually wrote the name 'skim coat' which got mis-read as 'shim coat' due to the similarity of the letters 'h' and 'k' ..... and the name 'shim coat' was a keeper??? .... because calling it a 'skim coat' would be a lot more accurate than a 'shim coat' ...... like, what the h is a 'NH shim coat' ..... ??? I guess the Meredith Neck Rd will soon find out?