KINGFIELD — Selectmen unanimously voted Monday night to allow the Quad Runners ATV club to begin developing a trail on town land on Stanley Avenue.
Of the 408 ballots cast by voters Nov. 4, Board of Selectmen Chairwoman Heather Moody said, approximately two-thirds approved the club’s proposed project.
Club President Kirtley Woodcock told selectmen he will supply Administrative Assistant Leanna Targett with copies all permits required for the construction.
Selectman John Dill asked how the standards for trail use and public safety would be monitored.
Woodcock said Brian Bronson, the ATV coordinator for the Maine Department of Conservation, tries to ride all the trails in the state and supplies liability insurance to all the clubs. Both he and Bronson would respond to concerns and complaints in a timely manner, he said.
“My number is in the phone book,” he said.
Selectmen also addressed concerns that they and the Road Reconstruction Committee and the Village Enhancement Committee might need to review and resolve any concerns and disagreements before the Maine Department of Transportation begins Route 27 work.
The proposed improvements will encompass the downtown village, as well as the northerly and southerly entrances to the town.
In 2011, voters reviewed and approved a Village Enhancement Plan, the results of a year of meetings with selectmen, citizens and the Village Enhancement Committee. Improvements requested in the MDOT project included better parking, sidewalks and curbing, safer crosswalks, tree plantings and landscaping and improved aesthetic street lighting. Also requested were more defined north and south gateway entrances, improved signage, safer intersections and the possibility of burying the overhead utility lines.
The Village Enhancement Committee encouraged the formation of a separate Road Reconstruction Committee. As that committee’s chairman, David Guernsey, said, the Village Enhancement Committee had fewer formal meetings, while the Road Reconstruction Committee became very involved with MDOT plans. His committee now faces a transition to the new stage of duties and planning.
“Up until about now, we controlled the clock,” he said. “It took us about a year to go through a page and a half of scope.”
The MDOT will proceed with its schedule and without the obligation to communicate as casually and frequently with the committees.
Guernsey said he is concerned that the town leaders are not as well prepared for that transition as they could be. The intersection at Route 16 and Route 27 is an example of an important part of the project, he said.
Anni’s Market could thrive or deteriorate, depending on the MDOT design decisions. Moving a sidewalk from one side of the street to the other near the Scentsations shop could mean that a property owner’s 100-year-old lilac bushes could be be cut down to accommodate MDOT’s construction plans.
Guernsey suggested the rejuvenated Village Enhancement Committee and selectmen join with the Road Reconstruction Committee to determine both separate and shared leadership responsibilities. Any conflicts should be resolved before meeting with the MDOT project manager.
“I believe the town should adopt an organizational structure which mirrors MDOT,” Guernsey said in a prepared statement.
A vague “we’re all in one family” organization will simply not work, Guernsey insisted.
He suggested selectmen establish general policy guidelines and that “adverse impacts on private property be kept to the minimum required for clear public necessity.”
Selectmen agreed to enter into an executive session with Guernsey after they adjourned the public session of the meeting to discuss personnel, according to Moody.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
