MINOT — Recreation Committee spokesman Candace Gilpatric told selectmen Monday that work on the town’s recreational trails system should be finishing up this week.

“We would like to have a grand opening celebration to mark this accomplishment,” Gilpatric said.

Selectmen agreed with Gilpatric’s proposal that the town set aside Saturday, Oct. 23, for the celebration and a time to recognize all the people who made the trails come to life.

“We will advertise it as a day to ride your bike, walk your dog, and just enjoy the trails,” Gilpatric added.

The celebration will commence at 10 a.m. in the new Minot Memorial Park ball fields, complete with speeches — promised to be short — and a ribbon-cutting ceremony. Afterward, those gathered would be invited to explore the trails, coming together again at the town fire station where the firefighters will have grilled hot dogs and hamburgers available.

The trail system, for nonmotorized use only, links the new ball fields, the old ball fields, the Minot Consolidated School and the town office/garage/fire station complex, with a 2.7 mile web of 8-foot-wide, packed crushed stone, walkways that are handicap accessible.

The trail system was completed within its $70,000 budget thanks to considerable volunteer help and, according to Gilpatric, local contractors who came in with some very favorable bids.

In other business, Town Administrator Arlan Saunders reported that Chuck Starbird and his attorney have submitted their application to revisit the appeal of Code Enforcement Officer Ken Pratt’s decision denying a building permit for Starbird’s property off the end of York Road.

“The Appeals Board has 45 days to hold a meeting to vote whether or not to accept the application,” Saunders said.

 Saunders pointed out that the Appeals Board, when it turned down Starbird’s initial appeal Sept. 11, agreed that it would hold off its written decision, pending the application to revisit.

Selectmen noted that when the Appeals Board met in September only four members were present because Elizabeth Santos had resigned and alternate Ed Cormier had not been called in. Selectmen pointed out that Cormier should have automatically advanced to the status of full-voting member on Santos’ resignation.

Saunders also reported that the town had received a dividend check from Maine Municipal Association in the amount of $1,232 for the town’s record for property casualty and workers compensation for the past year.

Pratt’s code enforcement report noted that demolition on the Soucy property on Old Woodman Hill Road is complete.