Planning Board approves Main Street Skowhegan’s phase 1 Whitewater Park site plan and related permits

The Skowhegan Planning Board voted unanimously to approve Main Street Skowhegan’s major site-plan application for phase 1 of the Skowhegan Whitewater Park, also granting shoreland and flood-hazard permits and the waivers requested by the applicant.

Chair (speaker 2) opened a public hearing and asked project representatives to present. Christina Cannon, president and CEO of Main Street Skowhegan, told the board the nonprofit has prioritized the river project in local planning documents and that Main Street will manage construction and operations. "Main Street is taking full responsibility for construction and for all fundraising and project management and operations and maintenance of the park," Cannon said, and she told the board a 10-year lease will protect taxpayers.

Engineers from Merrick Whitewater gave a technical walkthrough of the phase-1 design, describing an asphalt access trail from Mount Pleasant Avenue, a small hydraulic control shed above the 100-year floodplain, and a sequence of sculpted concrete pools and drop structures with a tunable wave shaper for recreational surfing and kayaking. After board members reviewed technical details and a package of four waivers (application fee, medium-intensity soil survey, trip-estimate requirements, and a requested waiver of a performance guarantee), a committee member moved approval with the waivers and the board voted in the affirmative. The Chair announced, "It is unanimous."

Next steps as noted at the hearing: the applicant will finalize lease documents with the town and proceed with remaining permit submittals and contractor submittals before construction. The application and permits approved at the meeting include the site-plan review, shoreland-zone permit and flood-hazard permit for the Phase 1 features approved by the board.