LIVERMORE — Brettuns Wheelers ATV Club meets on the second Tuesday of each month, until snow flies and the riding season comes to a close. April 9 was the first this year and Ashley Langlin Hebert, club president, presented some grim. numbers, gearing up for the huge amount of trail repair work that must be done before the trails can open to ride. The next meeting will be May 14, at 7 p.m. at the Livermore Community Building, located on Church Street, which crosses between Federal Road and Route 108.
Western Maine ATV Club had their main trail, the Whistle Stop Trail washed out and spent many man hours plus many loads of gravel, only to have it washed out in an even bigger storm. It didn’t matter if it was a trail or a dirt road or the major highway, the storm simply washed away everything in its path.
The Whistle Stop Trail runs along the old railroad bed from West Farmington to Jay, following the path taken by locomotives hauling supplies north crossing the Sandy River and points further up the tracks. It is a multi-use rail trail managed by the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry Off Road Vehicle Program.
Regular maintenance, such as brushing and signing of the trail, is done by three local ATV clubs, Canton, Brettuns Wheelers and Western Maine ATV clubs, but the damage to the railroad bed was overwhelming. Damage to a section of the former railroad bed was estimated at $500,000.
“We have an estimate of $15,000 to repair the trail from the Crash Road to Berry Hill,” the president said.
Brian Milligan, recreational trail coordinator for the state’s ATV program, attended the meeting to explain the process for applying for a municipal grant. These are available to municipalities for sharing the cost of ATV trail development and maintenance. It differs from a club grant in that a town, city or county must submit the request and local matching money must be present. If approved, the state provides up to 90% of the cost of an approved project.
The Livermore select board agreed to help the club with the municipal grant, but did not put it to a vote, so no official action was taken on the grant.
Last year’s weather and damaging storms played havoc on ATV trails. Snowmobile enthusiasts didn’t fare any better, with lack of snow hampering their fun. Some of the trails in Livermore are muti-use trails, used by ATVs, snowmobiles, hikers, bikers and even horses. Brettuns Wheelers ATV clubs had no sooner opened their trails last year than they had to close them again, due to severe rainstorms.
The club needs to fill or build small bridges by Fish Meadow, and would rather do stone as it is multi use, but that part of the trail needs more work now as vehicles have been in tearing it up
Local club grants are available to ATV Clubs registered with the Bureau of Parks and Public Lands ATV Program to help defray the cost of ATV trail development and maintenance expenses, Clubs must have a minimum of five miles of trail that they maintain and the grant for up to ten miles of trail would be $7,000 at the most, payable on a reimbursement basis.
For example, if a club only shows receipts for $5,000 in expenses, that would be their allowable grant for the year. Clubs with higher trail miles are eligible for higher amounts. Clubs must request their allowable grant money by July 1 of each year and turn in their expense reports by January 31 of the following year.
The club is also facing repairs on areas of the trail that cannot be inspected until the trails dry up. This includes the beaver dam on the trail from the Crash Road to Meadowview, in order to link up with Canton’s trails, inspection of the trail from Turkey Lane to Butter Hill, replace the on ramp for Gibbs Bridge near the River Road.
“Do we want to maintain the train to Rich’s Mountain?” she asked. “It is hard to maintain and a lot of money was spent last year, excavator work, man hours and gravel. Another issue is that Palmer Hebert closed his property from Gibb’s Mill Road to Haynorville Road, need to talk to the road association about going the length of the road from Gibb’s Mill.”
Until everything dries up and trails can be inspected, the club won’t have a handle on the repair costs for the trails, which cross primarily private land in Livermore.
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