HANOVER – Selectmen on Tuesday unanimously supported a plan by Mahoosuc Land Trust to try to preserve a portion of Whitecap Mountain in Rumford.
Bob Iles, a resident of Andover representing the group trying to preserve the popular recreational area, said plans are to try to purchase about 750 acres that once were owned by MeadWestvaco. Although he wasn’t certain about the cost, he estimated $500,000, of which the local preservation group would have to raise one-third.
The local land trust is banking on passage of a Land for Maine’s Future bond issue in November. Iles said letters of support were needed when the group applied for the land preservation funds.
He said Rumford has already written such a letter, and there are plans to go to other boards of selectmen in the region in search of their support.
Meanwhile, Iles said the group is working to gain trail easements from owners of property adjacent to the targeted land. Such easements are needed to gain access to the mountain’s crest.
“A letter of support would help strengthen our grant request from the state,” said Iles. “We want our application in for the Land for Maine’s Future cycle.”
Town Clerk Clem Worcester urged the board to support Iles’ request. “I’d love to see this preserved,” he said.
In other matters, the board learned that the Friends of Gardner Roberts Memorial Library has raised nearly $12,000 toward a planned move of the tiny building from the Howard Pond Road to a space near the town office on the Ferry Road. About $7,500 was raised by local residents Barb and Irv Robinson, who completed a 4,500-mile cross-country bicycle tour last month to benefit the move.
Worcester estimated that about $25,000 will be needed to move the early 20th-century building. Such a move would enable connections to water and power from the town office. With $12,000 as seed money, Worcester said a grant-writing process can begin.
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