PHILLIPS — A Madrid Township gravel pit owner had an opportunity Tuesday night to share information with selectmen about his proposal to move large vehicles over the Reeds Mill Road.

Mark Beauregard had given each board member a letter two weeks ago, he said, addressing the town’s concerns about Reeds Mill Road. He said he would rebuild the unsafe and poorly constructed roads and repair damage.

“On the Madrid side of the Reeds Mill Road, I offered to rebuild the unsafe and poorly constructed portions of the road at my own expense,” he said. “The Franklin County commissioners approved this and asked that I coordinate my activities with the county road commissioner.”

Beauregard noted that a presentation by engineer and surveyor Bert Lambert could be biased in favor of road resident Lloyd Griscom, because Griscom had hired him to do the cost analysis of the road work. Another road cost study might produce different figures.

“An engineer that I hired might provide a different result,” he said.

He also protested that petitioners were using traffic count figures based on his application requirements for the Land Use Planning Commission’s highest possible numbers. The speculation that the truck traffic would be dangerous was inaccurate, he said.

“In 25 years, Mark Beauregard Inc. has never had an accident,” he said. “We’re extremely safety conscious.”

He said drivers are not as likely to be distracted as are people who drive while talking on cellphones. He said he learned about the citizens’ protests by reading a newspaper article and that he had not been asked for his input or approached by selectmen to come to a meeting to discuss the issues.

He also noted that he had closer ties to the town and its property than selectmen might realize. The land beyond the Griscoms’ property to the Madrid line is owned by the state of Maine, he said.

“I do have a deeded right of way through that state land parcel and am also a taxpayer in Phillips,” he noted.

Selectmen learned this week that the Land Use Planning Commission will not schedule a public hearing about the increased traffic. Petitioners also have asked that truck traffic over 12,000 pounds be excluded from traveling from the Madrid pit onto the Phillips section of the road. Changing the status of the road would require an up or down vote at a town meeting.

“I’m not sure we can do that on just one part of a road,” board Chairman Lincoln Haines. “I don’t know if we can close it from a point on the road or if it has to be the whole road.”

The weight of the trucks versus the types of trucks wasn’t the primary concern, according resident Mark Keene.

“This is about safety,” he said. “We are worried about the safety of the people walking the road.”

If Beauregard can’t use the Phillips section, trucks would travel an extra mile in the other direction to Route 4, north of the town center.

Currently, the Phillips section of the road is open and passable by late May or early June and is closed after the first snowfall. The town does minimal maintenance, including occasional culvert repair and minor grading.

“Besides this road, we’re trying to figure out all of our road priorities,” Selectman Andy Phillips said.

Hope Alexander Griscom asked whether selectmen could authorize Beauregard to work on the road.

Selectmen agreed any road work authorization would be developed according to legal requirements.

Town Manager Elaine Hubbard said Maine Municipal Association would provide them with legal advice on any road construction issues.