Winding Trails seeks major roadway, parking and drainage overhaul at Dunning Lake camp

Scott Brown, executive director of Winding Trails, told the Town of Farmington’s inland wetlands commission that the nonprofit is proposing a multi‑phase reconstruction of roughly a mile of roadway and several parking areas at its Dunning Lake camp to improve safety and reduce stormwater runoff.

The project would repave existing lots and road surfaces, widen two constrained sections to a uniform 24‑foot width, add sidewalks and crosswalks, add parking in the central loop and install several water‑quality features — including infiltration trenches and depressed areas that will act as sedimentation basins — to intercept runoff before it reaches Dunning Lake. Brown said the camp hosts as many as 620 campers per day during peak weeks and that the redesign aims to separate bus and parent traffic for safer drop‑off and pickup.

The commission’s staff and volunteer presenters, including Jim Plage, outlined the technical elements: full‑depth reconstruction in parts of the loop, milling and repaving in others, and four new stormwater features intended to capture and slow runoff. Plage told commissioners the plan includes a stone‑lined ditch and catch basin in one intersection that will route runoff into a water‑quality depression before discharge.

Why it matters: The camp is a 386‑acre nonprofit facility with concentrated daily traffic during summer programming. Commissioners said they were particularly focused on the project’s effect on nearby regulated upland and wetland areas and on minimizing tree loss while improving safety for nine school buses and hundreds of vehicles during peak operations.

Commissioners discussed tree impacts and erosion control. Presenters said 11 trees in a regulated area would be removed to improve vehicle turning radii; they also described measures to contain sediment during construction and a proposed planting plan after grading. The project team said disturbed areas would be hydroseeded and that a separate landscaping plan for additional plantings would follow construction.

The commission voted to accept the application and to schedule a sitewalk so members could inspect the points of proposed work in person. The board and applicants agreed to coordinate a sitewalk the week before the next meeting; project staff agreed to provide a map for meeting and parking logistics and to meet the town’s erosion‑control recommendations (silt fence and straw wattle) during construction.

The application was accepted for review; commissioners did not take a final permit vote at this meeting and said they would determine significance and any permit conditions after the sitewalk and further staff review.