08/10/2011

Easements, private donation get Shore Road Pathway project off and running

The Town Council this month accepted three easements and a $104,500 private donation for construction of the Shore Road pathway, bringing the $1.03 million project closer to fruition.

At their meeting Aug. 8, 2011, councilors formally voted to accept a sidewalk and temporary construction easement from Key Bank, located at the corner of Shore Road and Route 77; and, a drainage easement for property next to Pond Cove brook.

At the same time, the council informally agreed to seek no further concession from the Cape Elizabeth Land Trust to allow part of the pathway to cross the 80-acre Robinson Woods conservation land, across from Pond Cove.

Robinson Woods and the Shore Road path made headlines this summer when the Land Trust, owners of Robinson Woods, sought help from the Town in purchasing a 63-acre parcel next to Robinson Woods. The council agreed to donate $350,000 toward purchase of Robinson Woods II, but with the stipulation that the Land Trust reconsider an easement through Robinson Woods for the Shore Road path.

Discussions continued and compromises were introduced, but councilors informally agreed to pursue the matter no further after learning of a Federal Highway Administration provisions protecting publicly held conservation land.

If the Land Trust did grant the Town the right to run the Shore Road path through Robinson Woods, any member of the public could protest that right under the provision, McGovern explained. "MDOT advised us that if that happened, the Shore Road project could get delayed for years, they also used the term 'indefinitely'," McGovern said.

Though no formal vote was taken, all councilors nodded when Chair David Sherman asked if he should tell Land Trust leadership they no longer wish them to consider allowing the path through Robinson Woods. Councilor Jessica Sullivan added that a compromise proposal for a smaller encroachment would not save as much money as first thought.

Most of the funding for the project is coming from a $729,000 grant from MDOT. The council's action Aug. 8 also accepted $104,500 raised by the Safe Access For Everyone citizen organization, which the council accepted with gratitude.

Bidding for actual construction of the Shore Road path will not likely occur until the next construction season, McGovern said in a telephone interview.