RANGELEY – Rangeley residents had the opportunity Tuesday to debate the site of a public restroom facility that will be installed as part of the town’s scenic byway.
The Board of Selectmen won’t vote on the plan until next Tuesday, but wanted to give citizens the opportunity to speak on the issue and to hear the details of the proposed plans from a member of the Scenic Byway Committee.
The debate focused on two sites: one on Three Pond Street, and one next to the Chamber of Commerce inside Lakeside Park.
The issue was presented by Rebecca Kurtz, coordinator of the Rangeley Lakes Scenic Byway.
“The hope is that we can build a restroom that would have an exterior that would fit into the background of downtown Rangeley, have two male and two female restrooms, and utility area,” said Kurtz.
Kurtz also suggested that if the facility was put in the park, it was possible that enough money would be left over to turn Three Pond Street into a small park. She also stated that locating the restroom facility near a welcome center, in this case the Chamber of Commerce, would increase local business and help the region.
Those in attendance seemed to agree with Kurtz’s arguments, voting 16-4 in favor of the park location in an informal poll taken at the meeting’s end.
The proposed project will be largely funded by the Maine Department of Transportation, but the town of Rangeley plans to give $30,000, raised six years ago to be used for such a purpose, and will also pay for maintenance. However, Town Manager Perry Ellsworth, who moderated the meeting, stressed the importance of coming to a clear agreement on a location, to satisfy MDOT.
“You need to convince the selectmen and yourselves that you’ve picked a location. Because not doing so and having controversy over where it may sit, will just preclude getting any money whatsoever and we’ll move back to what we’ve had for six years, which is nothing.”
While Kurtz and members of the selectmen’s office largely kept the debate between the two proposed sites, several citizens raised other alternatives, including placing the facility by the scenic overlook.
However, that option received strong opposition by Kurtz and others because the location is not central and because the only possible place to build such a facility would be on the downhill section of the overlook, where it would likely obstruct the scenic view.
The meeting was very well attended, with residents nearly filling the room at the town office. The meeting was also broadcast on local cable television. Ellsworth called the debate a “very emotional issue,” a statement validated when one frustrated citizen left the meeting early.
Ellsworth said he would talk to that citizen the next day, and encouraged anyone else with an opinion on the subject to contact him or a selectman before next Tuesday, when the board will meet and most likely vote on the location of the facility.
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