The Presque Isle City Council has approved a new all-terrain vehicle access route for a short stretch of Route 163, the first step in a process that could end in a federal grant for a new multi-use bridge over the Presque Isle Stream.
The Star-City ATV Club and Presque Isle Snowmobile Club are applying together for a federal recreational trails grant to build a bridge over the stream, and the ATV Club wanted to ensure access to the bridge and have ATVs following the same trail as snowmobiles between Chapman Road and Route 163.
The grant has a better chance of succeeding if both ATVs and snowmobiles are involved, said Richard Howlett, president of the Star-City ATV Club.
Howlett came to the City Council on Wednesday, May 3, to secure the approval for using nine tenths of a mile of Route 163 as an access road for ATVs. The access route, which now needs to be approved by the Maine Department of Transportation before the federal grant can be considered, would run from the intersection with the snowmobile trail near Underwood Electric to Pond Street.
The access route will make it easier for the clubs to connect the ATV network with the snowmobile trail and the potential bridge crossing the Presque Isle Stream, Howlett said. It also would address safety issues for snowmobilers.
“Augusta’s been really pressuring especially the snowmobile club to get a bridge across the Presque Isle Stream,” Howlett said, highlighting the impetus for the grant application and referring to an incident this spring when a snowmobiler went through ice on the stream.
In other municipal news from City Council, the Presque Isle Planning Board is in need of new members, city manager Martin Puckett told councilors. The board has not been able to replace former members and sometimes has not been able to reach decisions due to lack of a members.
This year so far, the planning board has discussed potential ordinances for recreational marijuana, fireworks and excessive noise, as well as considered an update on transportation in the city’s comprehensive plan.
And as the weather warms, city staffers are still dealing with the quagmire of a leaking heating oil boiler, one of a number of problems with the infrastructure at the aging City Hall.
“It’s working but the leak has definitely worsened, so we’re hoping that it will be a little bit warmer in May and we can shut it down for the heating season,” Puckett said.
The city wants to find a solution to that heating problem, as well as to other building problems at City Hall, including a fire escape that does not meet building code.
For years, the Presque Isle City Council debated the merits of renovating City Hall, selling it and/or moving. While no decision has been made, the city has continued to look at options.
Last month, the council authorized the city manager to send a letter to Maine School Administrative 1 inquiring about the possibility of city offices cohabitating in the school district building.
