BUCKFIELD – The town recreational trail has been barricaded to prevent damage from ATVs, dirt bikes, trucks and other motor vehicles during mud season.
Town Manager Glen Holmes announced Tuesday night that the barricades on the south end of the former railroad bed extend from South Pond to the C.F. Wells building on Route 117; and on the north end of the trail from High Street, or North Buckfield Road, to the gravel pit road behind Buckfield Junior-Senior High School on Route 140.
The closure does not exclude walkers or bicyclists from using the trail, Selectman Skip Stanley said. He said the barricade could last until mid-April, which corresponds with town roads being posted during mud season to prevent damage.
Holmes announced that the regionalization meeting with Sumner and Hartford scheduled for March 23 had to be canceled because towns have conflicts with other meetings. It will be rescheduled.
Holmes also announced that the Buckfield Village Corp. has set no date for a water rate increase. Its annual meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, March 21.
Selectmen voted to give James Bishop an additional 30 days to comply with the junkyard ordinance. Holmes said he met with Bishop and his lawyer and came to a preliminary agreement.
Stanley said Bishop was cleaning up, which is what selectmen wanted.
In other action the board:
• approved the application of Eddie Burgess to fill one of the two vacancies for the Public TV committee;
• accepted, with regret, the resignation of Robert Tifft from the Planning Board and appointed Perley Lovejoy to fill the vacancy until the end of the term in June;
• approved Holmes getting bids for mowing, fertilizing, trimming bushes and removing trash regularly at the Recreational Park as requested by the Recreational Committee;
• appointed Michelle St. Pierre and Eddie Burgess to the Park and Recreation Committee; and
• appointed Republican Party election clerks Roger Bennett, Lucille Allen, Judith Bennett, Barbara Bennett, Joan Abrams and Everett Tilton.
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