Note: These draft minutes have not yet been formally approved by the Committee, but are a good reference point on what action the Committee has taken to date with respect to each Ancient Road. The Committee has completed its work on 24 Ancient Roads, and sent its recommendation to the Calais Selectboard. It will address the 16 remaining roads during 2011.
DRAFT 12/27/2010
Calais Committee on Unmapped and Unmaintained Roads
December 1, 2010
Committee members present: Darby Bradley, chair; Reed Cherington, Eric Sorenson, John Meyer, Charlotte Hanna Bassage, Warner Shedd
Others attending: Scott Bassage, Bob Fairbanks (attorney), Syver and Mary Rogstad, Tony French, Chris Reed, Richard Czaplinski
1. Reed moved acceptance of the September 22, 2010 minutes, as amended; seconded by Eric. Approved unanimously. The amendment clarified that the committee had delayed a decision on the H.J. Jacobs Road.
Before the Committee got to the remainder of its agenda, Warner Shedd raised a question about the scope of the Committee’s charge, and whether the Selectboard intended that the Committee look at Class 4 roads and other unmaintained roads which appear on the official town highway map. Darby Bradley agreed that the Committee Charge, as adopted by the Calais Selectboard on 2/22/2010 could be read that way, it was his understanding from discussions with Selectboard members that the Committee is only looking at Ancient Roads that are both unmapped and unmaintained. Scott Bassage, speaking as an individual member of the Selectboard, confirmed that that was his understanding as well.
2. Field Team Reports and Recommendations (Short Spurs)
The Committee first addressed the Short Spurs that had not been voted on at earlier meetings. In cases where the Committee found that an Ancient Road was “not clearly observable by physical evidence of a road or trail”, the Committee recommended “No Action”, because the Town had already voted for “mass discontinuance” of these ancient roads. However, the Committee added a caveat that if clearly observable evidence is subsequently discovered so that the vote for mass discontinuance does not apply, the Committee recommends that the road be discontinued. All votes were unanimous.
A. King Spur (off Woodbury Mountain Road). John Meyer and Paul Hannan were not able to discover its location, and therefore found no clearly observable evidence. Recommendation: No Action.
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H.J. Jacobs Road (off West County Road). Meyer had investigated this road and found no clearly observable evidence. At one time, it may have coincided with the West County Road, but was obliterated by the latter’s relocation. Recommendation: No Action.
Tisdale Hawkins Road (off Stevenson Road). Sorenson and Bassage walked this spur with Meyer. The road is clearly visible, but the field team found no significant public benefit in retaining its existence. Landowners have requested discontinuance. Recommendation: Discontinuance. Meyer recused himself from the vote.
John Bancroft Road (off Longmeadow Hill Road). Sorenson had found no clearly observable evidence of the road, which was confirmed by landowners Darby Bradley and John Kaeding. Recommendation: No Action. Bradley recused himself from the vote.
Mason Wheeler Road (off Collar Hill Road). Reed Cherington and Gail Graham found no clearly observable evidence of the road, which was confirmed by several landowners. Recommendation: No Action.
Elijah White Spur (off Max Grey Road). Bassage and Shedd had been assigned to this spur. However, the landowner declined to participate, so the Committee decided not to make a recommendation. Recommendation: None. Note: If this spur is not “clearly observable”, it has been discontinued as a result of the Town’s vote for mass discontinuance.
Because the Committee had voted on its recommendations for many of the Short Spurs before the Town’s vote on mass discontinuance, it reviewed all the remaining Short Spurs. Where the field team had found no clearly observable evidence of a road or trail, the Committee changed its recommendations from “Discontinuance” to “No Action” with the same caveat described above. In all other cases, the Committee confirmed its earlier decision.
Adams White Road (off Max Grey Road). Not clearly observable. Recommendation: No Action.
Carver Road Spur (off Route 14). Recommendation: Discontinue.
Daniel Parsons Spur (near or coincidental with #10 Pond Road. Recommendation: No Action so as not to unintentionally discontinue #10 Pond Road. If the spur is not coincidental with #10 Pond Road, it has been discontinued by virtue of the Town’s vote.
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Ezekiel Kent Spur (off Tobey Hill Road). Not clearly observable. Recommendation: No Action.
Hackett Road Spur (off West County Road near Woodbury line). Recommendation: Discontinue.
Nathaniel Hersey Spur (off Longmeadow Hill Road). Recommendation: Discontinue.
J.D. Bailey Road Spur (off Worcester Mountain Road). Recommendation: Discontinue.
Jason Marsh Spur (in Gospel Hollow). Not clearly observable. Recommendation: No Action.
Nahum Templeton Spur (off Haggett Road in East Montpelier). Not clearly observable. Recommendation: No Action.
Richard Tobey Spur (off County Road). Not clearly observable. Recommendation: No Action.
Salomon Dodge Spur (near Adamant). Recommendation: Discontinue.
Thayer Road (east of West County Road). Not clearly observable. Recommendation: No Action. Meyer recused himself from the decision.
Fitch-Willard Spur (off Route 14 near Pekin Branch). Not clearly observable. Recommendation: No Action.
3. Field Team Reports and Recommendations (Longer Spurs – Group I)
The Committee then turned to the findings and recommendations of the field teams assigned to the first group of Longer Spurs.
Chickering Bog Road (off Lightening Ridge Road to East Montpelier line). Bradley reported that because of scheduling conflicts, he had not been able to walk the road with the landowners, The Nature Conservancy, or the snowmobile club. The road is reported to be quite visible. However, no survey of the full road has been found, although a survey of a small portion of the road appears in the town records. TNC holds a legal right of way over most of the road for access to Chickering Bog, although that does not extent to the East Montpelier line. The snowmobile club maintains a trail
Page 4 – December 1, 2010 minutes on this road in the winter. The Committee decided to defer any action until the investigation has been completed and all interested parties have expressed their opinions.
Dodge Road (near Blue Pond and Woodbury line). Bradley and Meyer had not been able to do a site visit, so a decision will be postponed until spring.
Durant Road (winter road at north end of Blachly Road near Marshfield line). Shedd and Bradley investigated this road. They found an old cellar hole that appears on a map to be close to the southern end of the road. However, they found no clearly observable evidence of the road at either end. The landowner is interested in having a trail, but a better location could be found. Recommentation: No action because road is not clearly observable. If Town is interested in locating a trail in this vicinity, the Calais Trail Committee is urged to contact the landowner.
Grist Mill Road I (in East Calais Village). Sorenson, Bassage and Graham were assigned to this spur. The field team found contradictory surveys of the road, including one which doesn’t seem to go near the old grist mill, whose foundation is still clearly observable. At least one landowner wants the road discontinued, while others want to ensure that they will have continued access to their lands. Because the spur is in a village area and more information needs to be gathered, the Committee decided to review this spur as a Committee of the Whole before making a recommendation. The field visit in the spring will also include a review of Grist Mill Road II and Symonds Road at the same time.
Grist Mill Road II “Shortcut” (just west of Grist Mill Road 1). This spur was also reviewed by Sorenson, Bassage and Graham. A road is observable, but it may not be the original ancient road because considerable grading and change has occurred in this area. The landowner would like the road discontinued. The full Committee will schedule a site visit in the spring.
Ormsby Road – North Fork (off Mirror Lake Rd. starting at Altman’s). Cherington could find no survey of the North Fork in the Town files, although Marge Garfield says it exists. The road does not appear to be visible, and may therefore be already discontinued. The Committee decided to postpone a decision, until it can look at all three Ormsby Road spurs in the spring.
Ormsby Road – South Fork. Cherington reported that portions of what may be the South Fork are observable, but that a portion (not clearly observable) appears to cross a significant wetland. As the route is uncertain, not all possible landowners have yet
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been contacted. Further action was postponed until the full Committee could make a site visit in the Spring.
Ormsby Road – Herb Scribner Road (includes most of Mirror Lake Road and portions of the North and South Fork). Good documentation does exist for this road. Reed felt that there may be a significant public interest in keeping this road, although the public interest may be satisfied by a trail easement in a different location, if the landowners are willing. The Committee postponed any decision until it could conduct a site visit in the spring. Only the sections that are not co-incidental with Mirror Lake Road will be examined for discontinuance.
Perez Wheelock Road (off Batten Road). Bassage and Shedd had not yet been able to make a site visit, so a decision was postponed until spring.
Putnam Road (at extreme southwest corner of Calais). Cherington and Bradley have hiked over rough terrain with the landowner’s forester, and found that portions of the road heading into Worcester are clearly observable. They also found the pin that marks the corner of four towns. The field team concluded that with no reasonable access to the road from Calais and only one ownership is affected, there is no significant public interest in keeping the road. Recommendation: Discontinue.
Symonds Road (west of Route 14 and south of East Calais Village. Sorenson, Bassage and Graham had been assigned to this road. It lies south of the Grist Mill roads, and though portions are clearly observable, it is unclear whether visible portions are what is documented and surveyed. The landowners wish to have the road discontinued, although it is located in an area that is recommended for village expansion under the town plan. The Committee decided to postpone any decision until the full Committee could look at this road, as well as Grist Mill Roads I and II in the spring.
White Road (off Max Gray Road to Marshfield line). Meyer and Shedd reported that no survey exists for this road, so by definition it is not clearly observable. The Committee decided there is no point in spending more time investigating this road. Recommendation: No Action.
4. Field Team Reports (Longer Spurs – Group II)
The field teams examined two other Longer Spurs while they were in the area:
Joseph Brown’s Road (near West County Road and crossing Stevenson Road and the Tisdale Hawkins Spur). Sorenson and Bassage examined this road with assistance from
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Meyer. Portions of the road are clearly visible. One section overlaps and is contiguous with the Tisdale Hawkins Spur. In fact, the road predates the Tisdale Hawkins and Stevenson Road. However, the field team found no significant public interest warranting continuing the road. Recommendation: Discontinuance. Meyer recused himself from the vote.
Newton Road (from Lightening Ridge Road to East Montpelier line, west of Chickering Bog Road). Cherington and Shedd walked the road with two of the four landowners. The Nature Conservancy owns Chickering Bog just east of the road, and wants the road discontinued so that it can control access to this natural area through its right-of-way along Chickering Bog Road. Landowners Richard Czaplinski and Chris Reed appeared at the meeting to ask the town to discontinue the town road, although they were concerned about not losing access to their properties. Czaplinski also noted that because the road is in a headwaters and wildlife area, discontinuance would help protect these values. East Montpelier has decided to give up any public right of way on its side of the Calais line. After discussion, the Committee voted to recommend that the Town discontinue the road, but in doing so the Selectboard should express the intent that landowners will continue to have a right of way to access their land. The landowners were urged to stay in contact with the Selectboard on this as the discontinuance process moves forward. Recommedation. Discontinuance.
5. The Committee’s Remaining Work.
The Committee then discussed and agreed upon a plan to complete its investigation and recommendations of the remaining Longer Spurs. Some will be assigned to a one- to two-person field teams. Others will be completed by the Committee of the Whole. In these cases, the Committee assigned one member to review the documentation in the Town’s files, contact the landowners, and otherwise make the preparations for Committee’s site visit.