An Act To Allow Road Associations To Determine Assessments According to Majority Vote Cast at a Duly Held Meeting
Maine Legislature, Session 123, LD 2102
Committee Amendment CA_A_H818 (House)
Amends: 23 MRSA §3101, 23 MRSA §3102, 23 MRSA §3103, 23 MRSA §3104

COMMITTEE AMENDMENT ,It" to H.P. 1488, L.D. 2102, Bill, "An Act To 
Allow Road Associations To Determine Assessments According to Majority Vote Cast at 
a Duly Held Meeting" 
Amend the bill by striking out everything after the enacting clause and before the 
summary and inserting the following: 
'Sec. 1. 23 MRSA §3101, as amended by PL 2007, c. 162, § 1, is repealed and the 
following enacted in its place: 
§3101. Call of meetings; maintenance; repairs 
1. Definitions. As used in this subchapter, unless the context otherwise indicates, 
the following terms have the following meanings. 
A. "Private way" means a public easement as defined in section 3021, subsection 2. 
B. "Repairs and maintenance" does not include paving, except in locations where 
limited paving is demonstrated to be a cost-effective approach for fixing an erosion 
problem or to repair and maintain pavement existing as of July 1, 2007. 
"Maintenance" includes, but is not limited to, snowplowing. 
2. Call of meeting. When 4 or more parcels of land are benefited by a private road, 
private way or bridge as an easement or by fee ownership of the private road, private way 
or bridge, the owners of any 3 or more of the parcels, as long as at least 3 of the parcels 
are owned by different persons, may make written application to a notary public to call a 
meeting. The notary may issue a warrant or similar written notice setting forth the time, 
place and purpose of the meeting. Copies of the warrant or similar written notice must be 
mailed by means of the United States Postal Service to the owners of all the parcels 
benefited by the private road, private way or bridge at the addresses set forth in the 
municipal tax records at least 30 days before the date of the meeting. If mailing copies of 
the warrant or similar written notice to all such owners is not possible, the notary shall 
post a notice in a public place. The notice must inform the owners of the planned 
meeting's agenda and specify all items to be voted on. The notice, if mailed, must be 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT ,A" to H.P. 1488, L.D. 2102 
accompanied by proxy and absentee voting forms. The notice, if posted, must provide 
information on how to obtain proxy and absentee voting forms. Subsequent meetings 
may be called in the same manner or by a commissioner or board appointed at a previous 
meeting pursuant to subsection 5. 
3. E-mail. E-mail may be used as an alternative to United States mail for sending 
notices and other materials under this section with the agreement of the receiving party as 
long as the communication includes the current address and telephone number of the 
sender for purposes of verification. 
4. Voting. Each parcel of land benefited by a private road, private way or bridge 
represents one vote under this section. The call to a meeting may state that an owner may 
elect to appoint another owner to vote in the owner's stead. Owners voting by absentee 
ballot must be polled on all voting items that were not included in the agenda and the 
final tally must be reported to the owners. 
5. Commissioner or board; repair and maintenance assessment. The owners of 
parcels of land benefited by a private road, private way or bridge at a meeting called 
pursuant to subsection 2 may choose a commissioner or board, to be sworn. By a majority 
vote, the owners may determine what repairs and maintenance are necessary and the 
materials to be furnished or amount of money to be paid by each owner for repairs and 
maintenance. The determination of each owner's share of the total cost must be fair and 
equitable. The commissioner or board shall report the outcome of all votes to all the 
owners by United States mail within 30 days. Special assessments for emergency repairs 
and maintenance may be made at a duly held meeting called for that purpose. Emergency 
repairs and maintenance are those actions necessary to maintain or restore the 
functionality of the private road, private way or bridge. 
6. Commercial or forest management purposes. This section does not apply to a 
private road, private way or bridge constructed or primarily used for commercial or forest 
management purposes. 
Sec. 2. 23 MRSA §3102, as amended by PL 1999, c. 552, §2, is further amended 
to read: 
§3102. Commissioner's or board's duties; neglect of owners to pay 
The commissioner or board chosen under section 310 1, with respect to the private 
road, private way or bridge, has the powers of a road commissioner. If any owner, on 
requirement of the commissioner or board, neglects to furnish that owner's proportion of 
labor, materials or money, the same may be furnished by the other owners and recovered 
of the owner neglecting to pay in a civil action, together with costs of suit and reasonable 
attorney's fees. The commissioner's or board's apportioning of the cost of repairs to the 
road undertaken pursuant to the provisions of section 3101 may not exceed 1 % of an 
individual owner's property valuation in any calendar year. 
Sec. 3. 23 MRSA §3103, as amended by PL 2005, c. 479, §l, is further amended 
to read: 
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COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 'A" to H.P.1488, L.D. 2102 
§3103. Contracts for repair; assessments 
The owners, at a meeting held under section 3101, may by a majority vote authorize a 
contract to be made for making repairs to and keeping maintaining the private road, 
private way or bridge in repair by the year or for a lesser time and may raise money for 
that purpose and choose assessors to assess it on the owners in proportion to each ov,'ner's 
interest pursuant to section 3101, subsection 5. An o'll'Aer's interest is based on the 
assessed vah:lation for property tax on the o't't'Aer's parcel that is benefited by the private 
way or bridge. 
The assessors shall deliver their assessment 'Nith a warrant for its 
collection to the commissioner. The warrant ml:lst be in sl:lbstance sl:lch as is prescribed 
for collection of town taxes. The commissioner or board shall collect the same money as 
town taxes are collected, and be is liable for neglect of duty as town collectors are for 
similar neglects. 
Sec. 4. 23 MRSA §3104, as amended by PL 1997, c. 682, §2, is further amended 
to read: 
§3104. Penalties and process 
Money recovered under sections 3102 and 3103 is for the use of soofl the owners. In 
any process for its recovery, a description of the owners in general terms as owners of 
parcels of land benefited by the private road, private way or bridge, clearly describing the 
private road, private way or bridge, is sufficient. Such process is not abated by the death 
of any owner or by the transfer of any owner's interest.' 
SUMMARY 
This amendment is similar to the bill in that it amends the laws pertaining to road 
associations formed under the private ways laws by allowing them to make assessments 
using any method they choose that is endorsed by a majority vote at a duly held meeting. 
The amendment establishes guidelines for notifying lot owners of any meeting scheduled 
to deal with maintenance and repair of the private road, private way or bridge. The 
amendment adds maintenance of a road to the laws pertaining to road repairs. 
The amendment, which is the majority report of the committee, also provides that 
maintenance includes, but is not limited to, snowplowing. The amendment also provides 
that e-mail is an acceptable form of communication for the purposes of calling a meeting. 
The amendment further changes the guidelines for notification of lot owners of meetings. 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT