The Dresden Planning Board approved a proposal for a boat ramp at the site of the old Dresden-Richmond bridge after a public hearing June 23.
The unanimous approval comes with conditions that the town will install signs to discourage littering at the ramp, as well as no-parking signs along the adjacent roads, according to Dresden Planning Board Chairman Jeffrey Pierce. The town will also ask the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office and Maine State Police to add the ramp to their patrols of the area.
Forty-two people attended the approximately 45-minute hearing, including the board and its recording secretary, according to Pierce. The board answered a number of questions from one resident.
With the help of an attorney, the town has also cleared up the ownership of the old bridge site. It had been unclear whether the state or the town owned the site. “Absolutely, the town does own it,” Pierce said.
The project still needs to secure a permit from the Maine Department of Environmental Protection before contractor Reed & Reed can start work. Pierce hopes to have the permit by mid-July and is “99 percent sure (the DEP) is going to issue us the permit,” he said.
The town will have to pay a $20,000 fee to compensate the DEP for wetland impacts. Dresden voters approved taking the funds from surplus during annual town meeting.
Pierce and representatives of the contractor, the Dresden Board of Selectmen, and the Maine Department of Transportation also need to meet at the site to discuss the location of a parking area with a minimum of three spaces for trucks with trailers.
“Hopefully, by the end of August, Dresden will be able to enjoy a boat ramp,” Pierce said.
Reed & Reed has agreed to build the boat ramp free of charge. The project would otherwise cost the town approximately $120,000. Instead, the town will pay a maximum of $22,000, including the $20,000 fee to the DEP and legal expenses.