TURNER — The Board of Selectmen voted unanimously Monday to allow Turner’s ATV club access to the downtown via Back Cove Road and Cobb Road.

Club members polled neighbors in the 44-home area and presented the results. Club member Adam Stevens said of the 30 contacts they made, 28 were in favor of allowing access, and two were opposed.

Access was granted on a trial basis for one year.

Town Manager Kurt Schaub told selectmen that renovations to restrooms at Boofy Quimby Memorial Center in Turner are complete. Improvements include new sinks, toilets, doors and flooring. The main floors will be polished.

Selectmen voted to install a new door with a window at the main entrance and to make roof repairs to address two leaks. The locks were changed to improve security. The key cannot be copied without an authorizing signature.

Selectmen voted unanimously to remove the cement slab step in front of the door in favor of re-grading the area to a gradual slope up to the door. Chairman Kurt Youland said this would make plowing easier and result in less snow-shoveling.

Ian Leadbetter, son of Turner residents Kirk and Rachel Leadbetter, will present his Eagle Scout project plan to the Board of Selectmen. Leadbetter will raise money for the restoration of headstones in Turner cemeteries.

Planning Board members will again inspect the retaining walls at the Big Bear Lane project on Wednesday, June 21. One of the walls under scrutiny proved to be unstable with an apparent shift of 1 to 2 inches. Several neighbors who use the right of way road made complaints to the Town Office about Robert Harlow’s project to improve Big Bear Lane. Harlow owns the private road used by right of way by five other residents.

At the June 5 selectmen meeting, Harlow, a contractor and summer resident at 33 Big Bear Lane, asked selectmen to overrule the recommendations of the Planning Board, stating, ““I want to keep the walls. It will be a lot easier to fix them than to take them out.”

A special executive session was held June 7 after which selectmen voted to take no other action than to advise Harlow to submit a revised plan to the Planning Board.

The town’s Fourth of July fireworks will take place Monday, July 3, on Ricker Hill, start time to be announced.

Selectmen also voted to close the Town Office at 3 p.m. on July 3.

The next selectmen’s meeting will take place June 28.

Copy the Story Link