Accessibility to Greenville’s woodlot may decrease cutting profit, forester says

Staff Report

    GREENVILLE — The Greenville Board of Selectmen learned last week that the net profit from any wood harvested from the town-owned woodlot on Marsh Farm Road could be lower than anticipated.
    Forester Gordon Moore from the Maine Department of Conservation “gave a thoughtful and professional overview of his findings after walking over the town woodlot in recent weeks,” according to minutes of the Oct. 16 Board of Selectmen’s meeting.

    Moore estimated that the amount of money likely to be made from a harvest at this time would be reduced significantly by the cost of improving road access to the site sufficient to allow the harvest to occur.
    Moore told selectmen that the harvest would likely net the town from $40,000 to $70,000, but that the cost to improve the road could be between $10,000 and $30,000.
    The acreage is a former state public lot which was given to the town as a “school and ministerial lot” for the purpose of producing revenue through timber sales to support the Greenville schools. The wood on the 200-acre lot was last harvested in 1994.
    The forester recommended that the town develop a harvest plan through the services of a professional forester, and that the Department of Conservation’s Project Canopy program could underwrite the cost of the study.
    The Board of Selectmen agreed by consensus to have Town Manager John Simko explore options for development of such a plan and report back to the selectmen at the next meeting.
    In other news, the Board of Selectmen approved a liquor license for the Stress Free Moose Pub and Café which will be under new ownership soon. Stacy Duncan of Sangerville, who has worked for and managed the business for several years, is in the process of purchasing the Pritham Avenue restaurant from Richard Czopek.
    Neither the police department nor the code enforcement officer has had any complaints with this establishment. Due to the fact that nothing has changed in the operation of this establishment, the board treated the request as a renewal of an existing license and approved it.
    Code Enforcement Officer Jack Hart gave a detailed summary and history on the harbor master/moorings ordinance which began when a citizen’s committee first explored the issue in 2007.  After a draft ordinance was created, the planning board considered it and felt that it was unnecessary. Their recommendation was brought to the Board of Selectmen in 2011 and the issue died, according to Hart.
    It was agreed by consensus to have some members of the board of selectmen attend the Oct. 28 planning board meeting to discuss revisiting this ordinance. The sentiment by selectmen who discussed the proposal was that it would be better to develop such an ordinance before there is a problem, rather than after.
    Simko reported that real estate and personal property tax collections are coming in on schedule. So far, just under $1.3 million has been collected which represents about 30 percent of the total tax commitment.
    Paving has been completed on the entrances to South and South Wiggins streets from Pritham Avenue with some of the cost picked up by the municipal water company and sewer district.
    The section on North Wiggins Street is near the United Methodist Church, which holds public suppers each Tuesday night.
    The next board of selectmen’s meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 6 at 6:30 p.m.