BETHEL — A recreational trail grant and a letter of support for a passenger rail between Montreal and Boston are among the items to be discussed during Monday’s selectmen meeting.
It is scheduled for 7 p.m. Nov. 18 at the Town Office.
The board will vote on whether to sign a letter of support for a proposed “Train Hotel” that will run between Montreal and Boston through Western Maine and New Hampshire.
Town Manager Jim Doar said Bethel has been considered as a stop because the town has a train station.
Montreal entrepreneur Francois Rebello, the man responsible for the proposal, said during a meeting of the Androscoggin-Oxford-Coos Counties Corridor Committee that he envisioned the train being a luxury overnight service that would collect travelers in the evening in Montreal and arrive in Boston the next morning with possible stops in Bethel and on the southern Maine coast.
He added that an overnight train would be attractive for tourists, who could fall asleep in one city and wake up in another, and that some may find it cheaper than airfare.
The board will also discuss approving a recreational trail program grant that would extend the Bethel Pathway that connects Route 2 to Davis Park.
Doar said there is a conceptual plan that would extend the Bethel Pathway to Angevine Park.
“I don’t know if the grant will completely cover the cost of extending the pathway, but it’s a big step toward it,” he said.
The Board of Selectmen will also hold public hearings to decide whether to approve liquor license renewals for Jolly Drayman, Crossroads Diner, ChoSun, Sunday River Brewing Company and Black Diamond Steakhouse. They will also vote on whether to approve entertainment permit renewals for Black Diamond Steakhouse and Sunday River Brewing Company.
mdaigle@sunjournal.com
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