A free community boat ramp on Gulf Island Pond? What’s not to like about that?
Plenty, according to local residents who see a host of reasons why the first proposed location for the ramp would disrupt their neighborhood.
“The one thing we’ve learned is that neighbors never support infrastructure like this,” NextEra Energy official Ernie Deluca said Tuesday night.
He’s right.
But Deluca, recreation enterprise manager for the company, has a legal obligation to Twin Cities residents to fulfill — providing public access to the river at Gulf Island Pond.
NextEra’s 50-year license from the federal government to generate electricity requires it to build and maintain recreational public access above the company’s dam.
The closest hardened boat launch is 9 miles upstream in Turner.
There is little doubt about the need for the new facility. Bass fishing is becoming more popular by the year, and a cleaner Androscoggin River has, over the past decade, made it a destination for fishermen.
At certain times of the year, the parking facility accessing Gulf Island Pond on Center Bridge Road in Turner is full.
City officials also say the ramp should be built in order to allow rescue vehicles access to the water closer to possible emergencies.
Neighbors, however, see problems with locating the ramp’s entrance off their residential street, and we share some of their concerns.
City officials Tuesday promised to review city maps to determine if there might be a city easement across land north of North River Road that might allow boat ramp traffic to avoid the neighborhood.
We hope that’s the case, but we are certain from the start that no matter where the ramp is built, it’s not going to please everyone.
That’s the nature of any public works project. The goal should be to minimize the ramp’s impact, either at the proposed site or another.
In the end, however, this is an important project for the entire community and it must be built.
The opinions expressed in this column reflect the views of the ownership and editorial board.
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