CANTON – Work on a long-planned trail system on 70 in-town acres begins at 9 Saturday morning.

The two-mile trail starts close to the municipal building, will loop around the Gilbertville/School Street area, and return to the municipal building.

It’s all part of a land-use plan that is the result of moving or razing nearly 50 homes from the floodplain during the past couple of years.

The town’s Trail Committee, community volunteers and representatives from the National Park Service and the Androscoggin Land Trust will converge at the site with gloves, shovels, wheelbarrows and other implements to begin the work, said Diane Ray, special projects director for the town.

She said a full-fledged land use plan will be acted on by selectmen next month. That could include such things for the in-town land parcel as a community garden, nature stops, song bird houses and possibly some agricultural projects.

The River Valley Healthy Communities Coalition has helped pay for the trail system.

Those interested in volunteering may call the Trails Committee chairwoman, Sue Gammon at 597-2615, or show up at the municipal building Saturday morning.

The committee and volunteers have also been cleaning up Whitney Brook, which runs through much of the land.

The project, which Ray said should be completed in about a year, is part of the relocation of the village to a higher parcel located off Edmunds Road.

Through grant money, the town has purchased nearly 50 homes, and is in the process of buying out nearly all the remaining homes located in the floodplain. Many of these homes were severely damaged by flooding over the years, particularly during a major December 2003 flood.

In the meantime, she said the Greater Brunswick Housing Corp., which is the developer of the new village, plans to clear the village area and rough out the internal roads this fall.

Bids for that project are expected to go out next month.