Big year in the works for Wilton Recreation Department

WILTON – Several projects relating to the Recreation Department are moving ahead this year, as town officials seek to protect and improve Kineowatha and Bass Park.

At Tuesday’s selectboard meeting, Recreation Director Frank Donald presented information relating to watercraft that will be available to rent at Kineowatha this summer. The town received a donation of approximately $7,000-worth of kayaks, canoes, paddleboards and life jackets through a Healthy Community Coalition grant. The only requirement of the grant was that the town not charge children to use the equipment on Wilson Lake.

The town has improved a storage shed near the water to keep the watercraft, which includes six one-person kayaks, two two-person kayaks, four paddleboards and one canoe. Donald hopes to cover the cost of the program, $800 of shed improvements plus time for the Recreation Department employee that rents out the boats, through a small rental fee for adults. The recreation committee has drawn up a pricing schedule that starts at $5 for up to two hours with most of the boats.

Donald envisioned having renters leave their driver’s license or other photo ID with the department when they’re using the boat, to ensure its return. The committee has drawn up a draft rental agreement based on what Mt. Blue State Park uses.

“We’re still working on how we’re going to monitor everything,” Donald said. Those under the age of 18 would need to be accompanied by an adult.

The selectboard approved the rental agreement for the 2016 season, contingent upon legal review.

Meanwhile, future improvements to Bass Park may be in the works. The new parking lot opened this past year, leading to the closure of the circular driveway off Lake Street. This spring, Donald said, the Public Works Department will remove the pavement and the ground will be seeded.

At last year’s grand opening event for the new lot, Ross Clair of Chesterville stepped forward with a donation from his family in honor of his father, Darrold Clair, for the benefit of the park. Donald and members of the recreation committee are looking into the creation of a new gazebo that would be larger than the one currently at Bass Park. That would allow the area to host art shows or music concerts.

Donald said that the donors responsible for the small gazebo, the Tyngtown Club, were fine with it being moved to East Wilton.

A larger gazebo would cost between $6,000 to $8,000 to have everything done professionally, Donald said, but he hoped to leverage donated material and expertise to reduce the cost. The department still had the Clairs’ $1,500, he noted.

Concerts and art shows, he said, could result in additional funds that could buy new playground equipment, such as swing sets, or picnic tables.

Moving back to Kineowatha, town officials are now eyeing a less expensive repair solution to a deteriorating retaining wall. Replacing the wall was expected to cost $70,000 or more, but a mason in New Sharon believes that the existing wall could be drawn back from the water and repaired at the cost of between $5,000 or $15,000. While not a permanent fix, Donald said, the town would likely get enough years out of the repair to make it a worthwhile approach to the problem.

Additionally, the Maine Department of Environmental Protection permitting process is significantly less stringent for a repair rather than a replacement, as the work will be chiefly targeting portions of the wall out of the water.

The town is also planning a winter walk through Kineowatha Park to help determine what sort of forest management plan should be developed in relation to the park’s trails and trees. Town officials have expressed concerns with some unsafe trees in the park, particularly around the parking area.

The date and time of the walk have not yet been set.