JAY — Selectmen from Jay and Livermore Falls will meet Monday to learn about a proposed riverfront trail and discuss recreational opportunities on the Androscoggin River.

The meeting will be begin at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 27 at the Otis Ventures LLC building, the former Otis Paper Mill, on Mill Street in Jay.

Members of the public are invited to attend.

Following the discussion, Jay selectmen will hold a regular selectmen’s meeting there.

Chisholm Trails, a newly formed local trails group of the Androscoggin Land Trust, requested the meeting to present its proposed Riverfront School Trail that would link the existing school complexes in both towns via a riverside trail, Livermore Falls Town Manager Jim Chaousis said.

Chisholm Trails has emerged from a planning process aided by technical assistance from the National Park Service Rivers and Trails Program. It has held events that included a National Trails Day with local middle school students. Seventh-graders from both Jay and Livermore Falls middle schools started at their separate schools and walked toward each other to meet at Otis Ventures last spring.

There has also been a paddling trip along the Androscoggin River to view the trail, and an open house in partnership with Maine’s Paper and Heritage Museum in Livermore Falls.

“As we look to the future of economic development and creating jobs in our communities, the Androscoggin River and improving recreational access to that should be a priority,” Chaousis said in a statement.

Otis Ventures sits along the river on the Jay/Livermore Falls lines.

The site has been arranged as the meeting place for this joint meeting not only for its geographical location but for its symbolic importance, organizers say. 

The former Otis Paper Mill was the centerpiece for the birth of the community and the site will now play a critical role as the community. The owners of Otis Ventures seek to envision the site for recreational river access and economic development potential, they said.

“The Androscoggin Land Trust has been active on connecting trails and open space to economic development since the initial launch of the Androscoggin Greenway initiative in Lewiston-Auburn nearly 15 years ago,” Jonathan P. LaBonte, executive director of the trust, said. “We are excited to be a partner to help Jay and Livermore Falls realize their potential on this amazing river.”

For more information, call the Livermore Falls Town Office at 897-3321 or email townmanager@lfme.org.

dperry@sunjournal.com

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