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From left, Small Harbor Improvement Program Manager Dan Stewart and Bremen Selectmen John “Boe” Marsh and Hank Nevins meet to discuss possible grant funding of a water access project on Nov. 22. (D. Lobkowicz photo) |
By Dominik Lobkowicz
The Bremen Board of Selectmen have given the go-ahead to a parking lot project on the recently-acquired Hay property on Broad Cove and are considering applying for a Small Harbor Improvement Program grant for a larger portion of the project.
The selectmen have been planning to develop the Hay property, a 10 acre parcel purchased by the town earlier this year, as a recreational and conservation area which would potentially provide both pedestrian and vehicle access to the cove.
The time-line for the project was jostled on Nov. 7 when the president of the homeowners’ association on Cove Field Road announced the association would be revoking access to the cove by clammers as of Jan. 1, 2014.
The selectmen changed their time-line, moving a small upper parking lot near Route 32 to the top of their priority list so clammers could park at the top of the Hay property and access Broad Cove through the field on foot.
At their Nov. 21 meeting, the selectmen accepted a bid by Sprague Transport & Excavation, Inc., of Damariscotta, to install a 35-foot-wide gravel entrance tapering to an 18-foot-wide drive – totaling approximately 100 feet long – and a 40-foot by 50-foot gravel parking area for $8275.
Davis Landscape Company, a Lisbon company the selectmen have been working with to develop a concept of the larger project, proposed to install the first 80 linear feet of the 12-foot wide gravel roadway and a 20-foot by 45-foot gravel parking area at a cost of $11,861.20, according to town documents.
Selectman John “Boe” Marsh said Nov. 22 the upper lot will be built within the next few weeks.
The selectmen held a special meeting on Nov. 22 to meet with Dan Stewart, the manager of the Department of Transportation’s Small Harbor Improvement Program, to discuss the potential funding of the Hay property project.
The project is proposed to include a lower parking lot with trailer parking and a driveway connecting it to the upper lot, a stairway down to the beach, a public boat launch and dock, and picnic areas, according to town documents.
“We’re looking at this as a way of getting everyone down to the ocean,” Marsh said.
For the purposes of applying for a 2014 SHIP grant, selectmen indicated the grant would include the access drive, half the lower lot, and the stairwell, which they estimated would cost in the range of $100,000.
The smaller the project for the purposes of applying for the grant, the easier it will be for the town to provide its 50 percent match, said Selectman Hank Nevins.
Stewart said it was clear the project is worth funding, though he was not able to provide final say on whether a grant application would be approved.
“It’s obviously a crucial project,” he said.
According to Stewart, SHIP usually funds projects such as piers, extending boat ramps, and creating or expanding float systems.
“The only challenge here is creating a road is something we haven’t done with this program,” he said, adding because the project was part of creating water access it would still be eligible.
Stewart said all projects found eligible for SHIP funding will be built, but are put into a queue based on whether local matches were in place or pending.
If Bremen had funding in place by the Dec. 13 application deadline, it would place the project higher on the list than towns that plan to seek local approval for funding based on their applications’ acceptance, he said.
Marsh said the selectmen will be deliberating on how to move forward with the project or application.
“It’s going to be an awakening,” he said of the project.
