WELD – More than 100 townspeople unanimously voted Tuesday to deny a request for a gate across the town road to Little Jackson and Tumbledown mountains.
Rousing applause and shouts followed a reading of the ballot count: 102-0.
One vote was disqualified.
Voters approved, by written ballot, Article 2 of the warrant stating the town would take no action regarding the use of Morgan Road, which leads to the trail heads to the two mountains. Similarly, not a single assenting voice was heard when moderator Richard Doughty asked voters to deny access to motorized vehicles on the road and allow only foot traffic by gating it at the intersection of the Byron Road.
The road bisects a 2,200-acre plot recently sold to Lake Webb Woods, Maine LLC. The principal of that organization is Linda Bean Folkers, who is the granddaughter of L.L. Bean.
Bean has no intention of denying access to hikers, but she is concerned with illegal dumping, camping, fires and motorized wheeled vehicles on the property known locally as Tumbledown field, according to her representative and forester Steve Gettle. She requested that the town gate the road to reduce these incidents.
Former landowner Susan Stowell was first to comment during the public hearing.
“I’m mystified why there is a problem,” she said. Her husband had to pick up trash only once or twice while they owned the property, she said.
“People generally respected it very much,” she added. They never felt the need to put up a gate to “block people off.”
“The land should be open to anyone who wants to use it. I hope that we can resolve it so everyone can use it,” she said. People don’t realize, though, especially “those from away,” that the land is privately owned, she admitted.
Others too were apparently worried about access.
“There’s nothing to stop the private landowner from cutting off access to the trail,” said resident Michael Keim. Parker Ridge and Little Jackson Mountain trails begin 0.84 miles away from the start of Morgan Road where the proposed gate would be erected.
Despite loud opposition to Gettle’s presentation, the yeas prevailed, allowing him to illustrate the problems with a slide show. He showed several instances in which trash was dumped in the area east of the road near an existing lean-to. Tires, beer cans, discarded Christmas trees and paint cans were shown. A free-standing toilet seat on a wooden box and a pile of toilet paper was also shown. Gettle told voters there were also 13 fire rings found along a nearby river and throughout the woods.
The landowner is concerned with environmental protection and sanitation, he said. The company has been in contact with the Trust for Public Lands in an effort to provide an easement to the property, Gettle told them.
But he said, she can shut down access at anytime.
“It is her right as landowner,” he said. “I’m here tonight because the landowner wants to be a good neighbor,” he said. If she didn’t, I wouldn’t be here, he added.
“Why isn’t she here herself?” asked Bernard Rackliffe, followed by appreciative mummers.
There hasn’t been a fire there in 38 years, added the former road commissioner.
But a firefighter told voters they did extinguish a fire there last year.
But it was permitted, he added, eliciting chuckles.
“We’re sitting on a really historical event here,” Keim said, calling the vote “monumental” in the state’s history. “This could turn into a very big thing,” he added, citing the state’s recent acquisition of Tumbledown and Little Jackson summits.
Neil Stinneford suggested the landowner work with the Tumbledown Conservation Alliance and the state and come back to the town.
“Some of us would be more likely to listen if she took a different approach,” he said.
“Tumbledown field is a problem,” said Maine Forest Service Ranger Jay Bernard after the meeting. “It’s a law enforcement problem and fire problem that was not addressed here.”
The large turnout shows the town is concerned about the landowner’s intended use, he added.
The Tumbledown Conservation Alliance is very concerned, said alliance member Henry Braun afterward. He said the group wants to keep it natural and retain access. He would support an easement in writing, he said.
“We couldn’t take his word on it,” he said of the forester. “There have to be documents.”
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