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Selectboard and landowners press ahead on legal trails guidelines; deadline set for mid‑June draft
Summary
The Selectboard discussed draft trail‑maintenance guidelines addressing maintenance authority, private right‑of‑way issues, permitted uses, signage oversight and conflict resolution; board tentatively set June 15 for a working draft to share with landowners and asked VLCT for potential legal template input.
The Selectboard reviewed a draft set of legal trails maintenance guidelines developed with landowners, the Westford Conservation Commission and other stakeholders. Chair Pat Haller summarized key questions: whether Westford will maintain trails consistent with a Supreme Court decision, how rights‑of‑way across private property will be treated, whether the Selectboard or WCC will control maintenance and signage oversight, and how restrictions would avoid superseding legal access rights.
Several landowners, including Kati Anderson, voiced strong views about trail impacts on private life, including a warning that restarting a dispute over Schultz Trail could result in fencing and conflict. The board discussed working with the Vermont League of Cities and Towns (VLCT) to develop a template policy and tentatively set a June 15 target for a more complete draft. Board members asked that the document include a conflict‑resolution process among landowners, WCC and the Selectboard.
