Young Road landowners press Select Board over tree cutting, easement status

At a Select Board meeting on Aug. 20, 2025, a group of Young Road landowners asked the board to clarify the road’s legal status after trees were cut along the way as part of preparations for electrical service.

The public comment period brought residents including Stephen Lee, Tracy Mulligan and Ron Archer to the table to ask whether sections of Young Road are discontinued, abandoned or still subject to a utility easement. Select Board member Charles Greenberg told the attendees that the ward-Hill side through the curve was previously voted at town meetings (1927 and again in 1996) to “discontinue and extinguish public easement to this section of the road,” while the segment from Reynolds Road to the curve is recorded as an abandoned road that retains a right-of-way and easement; he said the easement on that segment applies to utility companies and to the town.

The primary dispute among landowners concerned whether Jeff (identified in the meeting as acting Road Commissioner) had authorized cutting two trees. Stephen Lee said the trees were cut after earlier conversations with neighbors; other residents and board members said the Road Commissioner does not have authority to grant permission for tree cutting, surveying, or boundary adjustments. Greg Falzetta reiterated that easements apply to utilities and the town, not private citizens.

Tracy Mulligan told the board that a forest ranger had issued a cease-and-desist order and said she had a voicemail record of that contact; the board advised that enforcement and fines would be determined by the appropriate enforcement authority and that the Select Board itself could not make legal rulings on trespass or forestry enforcement. Charles Greenberg advised property owners to put permissions in writing going forward and recommended they work with surveyors and, if necessary, legal counsel to resolve boundary or damage claims.

Board members said that if damage to the roadway or other property is established, landowners may have a civil remedy for repair costs; the Select Board emphasized that it had provided its reading of the road-status records and that follow-up steps — including surveying, written permissions or court action — fall to the landowners, utility companies and law enforcement.

The board did not take a formal vote related to the tree cutting or authorize any town action; residents were told to collect documentary evidence and to seek professional advice. The Young Road discussion occupied the early portion of the public-comment period and lasted roughly 40 minutes per the meeting record.