LIMESTONE, Maine — After a Select Board meeting Wednesday, town officials will seek ways to fix a damaged canopy at Albert Michaud Park and pursue the discontinuation of the Bourgoin Road.
Members of the Limestone Select Board and recreation committee met for part of Wednesday’s meeting at Albert Michaud Park to discuss frost-heaving damage to the concrete floor of a post and beam canopy.
The consensus among the board, committee members and town staff is that the canopy can and should be saved, and that the project could possibly be performed with the help of construction students from the Loring Job Corps Center.
The board directed interim Town Manager Tom Stevens to reach out to Jobs Corps with the inquiry. The town would still have to pay for materials, but Jobs Corps provides free labor for such community projects as part of the program’s training.
Select Board member Chris Durepo also pointed out other safety hazards at the park, such as loose wood boards on some playground equipment, and Stevens said he and other town staff would complete an assessment of the park to determine what else needs to be fixed.
“It’s a really important project,” Durepo said of revitalizing the park, adding that a new walking trail is planned for the park.
The board and recreation committee members also discussed looking into adding summer water play features similar to Presque Isle’s Splash Pad, but on a smaller scale. They are planning a fundraising campaign to help raise necessary funds for improvements and additions at the park.
Back at the town office, the Select Board voted to pursue talks with three landowners about selling them a tax-acquired property on Bourgoin Road, with the goal of eventually discontinuing the road as a public way.
The 1.5 mile gravel road between Bog Road and Route 223 is really “a field road” that long ago the town took over, and is among several such roads that the town probably doesn’t need to maintain, said Select Board chair Tom Albert. There is currently no one living on the Bourgoin Road.
The board’s motion directs the town to work out an agreement to sell the parcel to the three abutting landowners, Smith’s Farm, Page Farms and Griffeth Farms, who would then take over the road after the town pursues its discontinuation.
Select Board members on Wednesday also continued discussions over ways to find a new, long-term town manager. The board decided not to hire the Maine Municipal Association or a private firm to conduct an executive search, and instead directed Stevens to make it a priority to post ads in various publications and on municipal job boards with an application deadline of the end of August.
