Will Minot approve a road to nowhere?

MINOT — The Minot recreation committee, recently created in March 2004, has developed a plan to construct new hiking trails on town owned property.  As a starting point for this project, they will seek $137,500 from voters at the town meeting in March, with the majority of this funding earmarked for construction of a 2,000-foot access road into the area where trailheads will be built at a later time.

“It’s [about] getting the area access, getting people walking around back there,” said Dean Campbell, a member of the recreation committee who is also chairman of the town’s board of selectmen.

Campbell was referring to the committee’s strategy of developing the project in phases, starting with the access road.  While it may seem odd to begin with an access road that, at least for a period of time, will not access anything, committee members theorize that this will be the best way to secure public support for later construction of the trails themselves.

“We’ve got to get the interest into it first,” said committee member Candice Benwitz.  “After getting that road in there, and getting people back in there to see that field, is when we’ll see the interest [needed for continuing the project,]”

“85-percent of the town has no idea what is down there,” declared Jim Chesare, putting it another way.

What is down there, committee members say, is a large area of relatively flat farmland, mostly already cleared, with an “interesting terrain” that includes many old stone walls.  As a professional engineer, Benwitz has already donated her time and equipment towards conducting a survey of the land.  Based on her recommendations, the access road will lead to what she described as the optimal location not only for trail heads, but also for the eventual addition of three new ball fields.

The 146-acre municipal property is comprised of six contiguous lots obtained by the town over a period of 30 years.  The two main, and oldest, parcels are the site of the Minot Consolidated School on Shaw Hill Road and the town office complex on Woodman Hill Road. 

Added to these properties in 2002 were two additional lots, known locally as the “Old Morrison Farm” and the “Hanscomb property.”     

“We bought it [the two lots] for recreational use and to tie school property in with municipal property we already had,” explained Campbell.

The fifth lot is a small parcel of land at the corner of Woodman Hill Road and Shaw Hill Road that Minot acquired “five or six years ago.”   Recently added to these five lots was a small area of wetlands and vernal pools donated to the town.  This last lot is situated nearly in the center of the site, wedged in between the Morrison and Hanscomb lots.

Most of the new construction, where recreation committee members would like to get residents “walking around,” is planned for the Morrison Farm lot. 

The proposed access road will start with a 100-foot by 200-foot expansion to the school parking lot.  From there, a dirt road will lead into the Morrison Farm property.  

One minor complication for the project, according to Town Administrator Gregory E. Gill, is that the Morrison farmland had previously been accepted as a 14-lot subdivision prior to its takeover by the town.  This development plan, known as the Hodge Hill subdivision, will need to be “unregistered” with the Androscoggin Registry of Deeds before any other use can go forward.

The new use that recreation committee members have in mind has its origins in a survey mailed to all Minot households in August.

1,056 letters went out asking residents which types of projects they would like the committee to focus on.  Only 61 completed forms were returned.  However, committee member Lisa Chesare described this 6-percent response as “better than the average return.”

Among the choices included in the questionnaire were ball fields, tennis courts, rollerblading, skateboarding, walking and hiking trails, and bike trails, as well as that dependable catchall: “Other.”

Of the respondents, 25 listed walking trails as their highest priority.  22 requested new soccer fields.  19 wanted “Babe Ruth League” ball fields and 15 were inclined towards biking trails.

Based on this survey, the recreation committee opted to start with walking trails as the best use of the town land, and to start with the access road as the best means of making that plan a reality.

Minot Road Commissioner Arlan Saunders had estimated construction of the access road, as well as an addition to the school parking lot, if “built to town specs,” at $150,000.  This price would have included paving, a concept later discarded.

One integral component in launching the project out of the wishing stage is the assumption that matching grants can be secured.  

“They [voters] will look at $250,000 [for the entire project] and they’re going to have a coronary,” said Campbell.  “It’s pretty much guaranteed. 

“[But] if we have all of our numbers together, [if we] say [to voters] we’re going for a 50 percent grant.  They might go for it.”

Assuming voters do “go for it,” the committee intends to pursue a National Park Service grant that will reimburse the town for 50 percent of the access road construction.  A warrant approved by selectmen at their December 20 meeting will ask voters to appropriate $100,000 for this purpose. 

Then, in the fall, the committee will apply for a Maine Recreational Trail grant.  If awarded, this grant will reimburse as much as $30,000 (80 percent) of the $37,500 voters will be asked to raise towards trail construction.

According to Gill, grant requirements would include approval of the site by the State Planning Office and the Bureau of Parks and Lands.  The town would also have to establish an oversight committee and sign a contract agreeing to retain the land, to allow public use, to guarantee regular maintenance, and to install a plaque acknowledging receipt of the grants.

Gill also noted that the town would have to raise at town meeting a sum equal to the entire cost of the project.  This is because both grants would not be paid until four to six weeks after the project is completed and the appropriate forms are filed.  

“You can use certain in-kind funds for the half the town will still be responsible for,” said Gill.  “You can use the highway department.  So you can come up with some of the [town’s] match that way.”

If voters do approve the requested amounts, it could have an impact on their mil rate.  Gill estimated that, with the mil rate currently at $14 per $1,000 of accessed value, property owners could expect an average household increase of $70 to their property tax bills. 

Still, the recreation committee is serious enough about the project that some minor work has already begun.

“They [highway department vehicles] are hauling stuff down in there right now anyway.  What are they doing?” asked Jim Chesare.

“Any decent ditching material, I’m having them start filling down in there,” answered Campbell.

“Oh, don’t you dare let them fill that wetland,” hissed Benwitz.