Board sets new rec path focus

By NATHAN LAMB | Milton Independent Staff Writer
mireporter@mac.com

Shortly after it was appointed by the Selectboard in January, the Recreation Pathways Committee identified two primary goals: one was to produce a comprehensive report on desirable pathways around town, while the other was to speed progress on an off-road connection between the town offices and the Route 7 corridor in southern Milton.

However, those priorities may well change in the near future, given a recent Selectboard directive that calls for more focus on the town core area and less on the southern pathway. The instructions, which came in response to the committee's first quarterly update, were outlined at the board's April 21 meeting.

During deliberations, Selectwoman Diana Palm commended the committee's intentions, but added their work needs a wider focus. The Selectboard will ultimately decide on recommendations from the Committee, and Palm said their work should include some options. She added they were being “ a little shortsighted” by giving priority to the southern route, which has been a goal of bike path advocates in recent months.

“They need to look at the broader picture, instead of just what they've come up with,” she said.

Instead, Palm suggested the committee focus on increased off-road mobility in the town core area and using that as a hub for future expansions. Selectmen Jeff Turner and Randy Barrows both agreed with that approach.

Though it has been periodically discussed for years, the southern route was pushed to the forefront when a grassroots group headed by Colchester-based-attorney Rick Sharp mailed a conceptual map of that plan to a number of Milton residents last fall.

Sharp was initially part of the pathway committee, but was removed by the Selectboard in March after submitting an easement request to the Charlelbois trucking company on behalf of the committee without the board's foreknowledge or permission.

Charlebois is planning to establish a company headquarters off Route 7 in southern Milton in the near future, and Sharp has maintained that securing an easement prior to the development is a vital step toward making the southern route a reality.

Selectman and committee member Randy Barrows alluded to at least part of that history when he said there's been a lot of emphasis on the southern route for “obvious” reasons, but he questioned its overall worth to the town. He said the whole idea of the southern route was to link with paths in Colchester, which he said are the otherside of wetland obstacles that could put that undertaking 50 years out.

“I'm not against going down there, but to me it's a path to nowhere,” he said.

Barrows said he's in a minority on the committee, adding its best discussions to date have centered on brainstorming a comprehensive path network for the town, which could perhaps benefit from a number of utility easements that are already in place.

The Recreation Pathway Committee was not present at the meeting, but was represented by Town Planning Director Regina Mahony. Having worked with the group to provide staff support, she said the early focus on the southern route was understandable, since its been studied on several occasions. To that, she added an acknowledgement that the group was being asked to take a step back on the issue.

In any event, the committee had requested guidance from the Selectboard about its specific charge in the first quarterly report, and Mahony thanked the board for providing it.

“I think it will be really helpful,” she said.

The Recreation Pathways Committee will meet next in the town office at 7 p.m. on Thursday, May 15.