A special town meeting in Bremen on Thursday, Dec. 12 will ask voters whether to approve expending up to $60,000 which would make up a local match in an upcoming grant application for improvements at the town’s Hay property.
Earlier this year the town acquired the property and the Bremen Board of Selectmen had been working on a plan for a number of improvements to it, including creating access to Broad Cove.
The time-line for the planned improvements was shaken up when a homeowners’ association on Cove Field Road let the board know in early November they had voted to revoke long-standing access of clammers to Broad Cove through their subdivision, effective Jan. 1, 2014.
In response, the selectmen have since approved moving ahead with an initial $8275 project to create a parking lot at the top of the Hay property near Route 32 so clammers could park and access the cove by foot.
According to town documents, the overarching 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, but the selectmen are considering grant for a smaller portion of those items.
The town would be required to provide a 50 percent match to receive funds through the Department of Transportation’s Small Harbor Improvement Program, the program’s Manager Dan Stewart said when he met with the selectmen on Nov. 22.
A total cost in the range of $100,000 was estimated by the selectmen for the projects they were considering including in a SHIP grant application: the access drive, half the lower lot, and the stairwell, which they estimated would cost in the range of $100,000.
To cover the costs of the local match, the special town meeting will ask whether voters approve expending up to $20,000 from the town’s capital improvement fund and $40,000 from its “unexpended funds,” according to Selectman Hank Nevins.
The special town meeting will be held at the Bremen Town Office on Thursday, Dec. 12 at 5 p.m.
Selectman John ‘Boe’ Marsh said he has the SHIP grant application nearly complete, and a preliminary application will be brought to the planning board on Tuesday, Dec. 10 regarding earth-moving in the shoreland zone related to the Hay property project.
