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Penny Pond Trail electrical request tabled until May 19 as grant status is confirmed
Summary
Volunteers asked the Select Board for permission to place a utility pole on town land and financial help to complete Penny Pond Trail electrical work; the board agreed to revisit the request on May 19 pending confirmation of a $15,000 AARP grant and funding details.
Volunteers for the Penny Pond Trail asked the Berwick Select Board on April 21 for permission to place a utility pole on town land and for seed funding to cover electrical costs the grant would not cover.
Neil Linsky, who said he lives at 27 Blackmore Road, described the project’s needs and said an AARP challenge-grant award this year was reduced from $25,000 to $15,000. He said the $15,000 would cover materials, accessible furniture and staging but would not pay for electrical work such as pole placement, wire runs, tree trimming, and CIAC (central-utility) charges required by Central Maine Power. "The $15,000 grant will allow us to purchase all the remaining necessary building materials, equipment and tools," Linsky said, and he asked the board to allow use of town land and to consider discretionary funding.
Board members and the town manager questioned whether the grant had been awarded and whether the town’s contingency fund could be tapped, noting that the same contingency money might be needed for the Riley’s Run demolition. The manager said he expected an answer from the grant program in early May and recommended the Select Board revisit the request after the April 30 public informational meeting and once grant paperwork is confirmed.
The board voted to table the Penny Pond Trail request and to place it on the May 19 agenda so members have answers about the grant, the April 30 meeting outcome and the town’s contingency-fund exposure before considering financial support.
