KINGFIELD — Community groups who use Webster Hall for activities should plan to identify and remove or store their items by the end of March, selectmen decided Monday night.

Groups that meet regularly should bring plastic storage bins to package and label their supplies neatly, the board said.

Chairman Heather Moody said for years, there has been a casual policy about leaving items behind. Kitchen cabinets, she said, are laden with leftover, poorly-wrapped food items that mice have eaten and then left their feces.

Administrative Assistant Leanna Targett said she has contacted groups who have left items and told them plenty of storage space is available in the basement. Some items have been in the hall for so long no one knows whom to contact. Unclaimed items will be considered disposable after March 28 and will be taken to the transfer station.

Since Webster Hall receives rental revenue from weddings, receptions and other private functions, selectmen suggested the cluttered appearance could deter those looking for a more formal space.

“It’s a public building, not a clubhouse,” Selectman Merv Wilson said.

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Hunter safety classes, quilters and an exercise group meet in the space, but selectmen are asking groups to store personal materials in mouse-proof containers.

“If we want to clean up this place so that someone wants to rent it, we have to get rid of this stuff,” Selectman Wade Browne said.

Many of the kitchen items have been stored for months or longer, and cabinets have pulled away from the walls due to the weight of dishes, cups and utensils left behind over the years. The piano has become a catch-all for mittens, old papers and whatever else might be important to someone in the community.

“I want to give people time to take their stuff,” Heather Moody said. “I don’t want to toss out something that means something, but we can’t keep everything.”

In other news, selectmen agreed the town’s tax maps need to be updated and digitized. Targett said the Acme Engineering firm has provided the service in the past, but the costs will vary, depending on the level of service provided. Many area towns have digitized tax maps, which have replaced or provide an alternative to hand-notated paper maps. Targett will check costs for the project and report at a future meeting.

Selectmen also approved the Sno-Wanderers Snowmobile Club’s offer to continue to groom the town-owned sledding hill at the entrance to town. In return, the club has asked for permission to erect a sign at the site to generate some publicity and identify the area for snowmobilers to park for access to local trails in Kingfield and Franklin County.


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