FARMINGTON – Organizers of a recreational trail system near the University of Maine at Farmington athletic fields are planning new improvements in the coming months, after selectmen approved the incorporation of town property into a multi-use trail Tuesday evening.
James Hoisington, coordinator of UMF Alpine Operations, and his students began working on the trail three years ago to provide Nordic skiing and snowshoeing opportunities near the UMF athletic fields at Prescott Field. That approximately 10-kilometer trail has seen increased use by both UMF students and local residents.
Hoisington and Gina Oswald, UMF assistant professor of rehabilitation services, were recently announced to have been awarded a $3,500 grant through the Maine Outdoor Heritage Fund to further improve the trail. In the near term, Hoisington said, planners intend to create a couple of small kiosks and some educational nature signage for the trails. In the longer term, they hope to create an adaptive, handicapped-accessible section of the trail, complete with parking.
The town owns property off the athletic fields, such as the old snow dump off Front Street. Hoisington said that he would come back to the board with a specific trail proposal before any work began on town property. The trails will continue to be maintained by students.
“We’ll probably develop a little bit at a time,” Hoisington said. The trails would be for hiking, skiing and snowshoeing rather than motorized outdoor recreation, he noted, although there was a shared snowmobile trail that runs through the system.
Selectmen unanimously supported incorporating the nearby town property into the system, with some noting how popular the trails had become.
“This will certainly benefit a number of people,” Selectman Michael Fogg said.
Selectmen also welcomed a new, full-time officer to the department, filling one of three vacant patrol positions. Officer Ethan Boyd was introduced by Police Chief Jack Peck; a Mt. Abram High School graduate that has completed the Maine Criminal Justice Academy program, Boyd had worked at Carrabassett Valley Police Department since November 2015.
Selectmen did approve the state-mandated payment of $18,000 out of department reserve funds to reimburse CVPD, due to Boyd having recently undergone the MCJA program while working for that department. Peck noted that Farmington had itself benefited from that reimbursement when it had lost officers to other departments. Town Manager Richard Davis said that the reserve account had $56,000 in it.
Peck also introduced Officer Roger Bachelder, as a part-time employee. Bachelder worked full-time with the Livermore Falls Police Department, Peck said, but had assisted Farmington before during special details, such as fair week.
In other business, the board approved an expenditure of $67,520 out of the Public Works Department’s equipment reserve funds to covert a ten-wheel Freightliner truck acquired through a military surplus program into a plow truck. Farmington previously converted another, similarly-acquired truck into a plow truck two years ago, having good success with the final product. The newly-converted truck will replace a 2002 Volvo model acquired by the town through state surplus. The expenditure leaves the department with a reserve of less than $2,000, pretty much tapping it out in advance of town meeting later this year.
The board also accepted a grant on behalf of Farmington Fire Rescue from the Firehouse Subs Safety Foundation for extrication equipment valued at nearly $30,000. At least some of that equipment, Deputy Chief Tim Hardy told the board, would be used to equip the new truck when it arrives later this year.
