Chip pile in the lower park

[Nancy Farmer]

Good evening neighbors,
I wanted to reassure our neighbors that there is a plan for the chip pile in the lower park. There are a number of factors that are figured in, including the need for chips for parks projects such as re- bedding the playground, bog control in the lower park court parking lot etc. The crew will continue filling and removing roll offs per instructions from the town representatives, who will determine the remnant chip pile post project. The chip pile is not an immediate threat as has been commented to the crew. The crew are not the decision makers in that process, and taking any frustrations out on them does not typically get back to where the concerns need to go. The watershed center, who is the funder of the project, has been doing an excellent job of communicating with the town, and there is an established communication path. The crew performs the work that they are directed to do for the homeowners via the watershed center. Please allow the crew to work without distraction, complaining to them or otherwise keeping them from the work they are performing costs time/ money and is damaging morale for the project. This is a really important effort both for the watershed center and the town, and it benefits the town by helping to provide a large scale mitigation project in the side of town that has not yet been affected by fire. A mosaic of property work would not provide the same benefit. And please remember that this is being undertaken at no cost to the town or property owners. We may not always appreciate the noise or the inconvenience, and may not fully understand the plan, but rest assured it is temporary.

Bog control in the lower park parking lot would be a good thing - and how about the entrance from Cemetery Road, oh, and Cemetery Road itself? The mud has become a real problem. I may be one of the only two people who actually live on Cemetery Road, but the entire town is using it for coming to the Food Rescue, and it is a tremendous mess. I know that this should be a Roads & Bridges problem, but there is apparently no funding to improve the road surface, so if there's a way to use all those wood chips to help with mud control, I say "AYE!

Well, I have to rescind my "Aye!" and vote "Nay" on chips for mud control. I was recently informed that chips are terrible for mud control because when they start to break down they just turn to slime and make the mud problem even worse, so please don't do that! The person who told me that said that what is needed is road base, with a layer of rock underneath it for drainage. He suggested the town might be able to work with the County to come up with a plan to improve the drainage and potentially be able to ask get some materials through them.