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Select Board approves open-space plan, cites grants and regional trail work
Summary
The Casco Select Board voted July 7 to approve a draft open-space plan intended to identify and secure town open space in perpetuity; the plan includes capacity analysis, partnerships with regional land trusts and a Maine Community Foundation grant the commission already secured.
The Casco Select Board on July 7 approved an open-space plan the town’s open-space commission says is intended to identify land the community uses now and secure it for public access in perpetuity.
Sam Brown, a co-commissioner who presented the plan to the board, said the effort focuses on mapping existing public access and negotiating easements rather than municipal acquisition. “Essentially, our work is geared around identifying the open space that we currently have access to and take for granted as a privilege and implementing this plan to secure it in perpetuity for public access,” Brown said.
The plan, described to the board as an 80-page document, lays out multi-step work: an initial capacity analysis for specific parcels, followed by community engagement, fund-raising and targeted grant applications. Brown told the board the commission had already secured a $10,000 Maine Community Foundation grant and is pursuing other funding opportunities, including a resiliency-partnership grant and trail-funding sources.
Board members asked about timing, funding and legal limits on tax-acquired property. One member raised concerns that a recent court decision could require certain tax-acquired land sales to be at market value; the manager and Brown said the commission’s work focuses on easements and collaborations with land trusts to avoid forcing the town into forced-market acquisitions.
The commission cited specific near-term steps in its presentation: maintenance and volunteer trail work on Bridal Trail, coordination with Hancock Lumber and the Maine Farmland Trust on a potential Hancock Family Farm conservation option, and outreach tied to a $175,000 resiliency grant application the commission expects to submit.
The board moved and approved the plan as presented and thanked commission members for their work. Next steps the board and commission discussed include additional public engagement, drafting renderings to support fundraising and identifying any municipal budget support that would be necessary to implement particular projects in coming years.
The board’s action was procedural approval of the plan; the commission will continue outreach and grant work to implement the plan’s priorities.
