Dover-Foxcroft Villages Project concept design completed

DOVER-FOXCROFT — A preliminary concept design for downtown Dover-Foxcroft transportation improvements for the Villages Partnership Initiative Project has been completed by Gorrill Palmer with input from the Maine Department of Transportation. The plan was presented by representatives of both the firm and MDOT to the selectboard during a Monday, Oct. 28 meeting, two weeks before a public meeting set for 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 12.

After the public meeting, feedback and comments will be incorporated into a more detailed project design as Gorrill Palmer and the MDOT will also develop cost estimates so the project can be submitted and considered for federal funding for the transportation improvements and enhancements. 

“We will get into the weeds then,” Randy Dunton of Gorrill Palmer said about the Nov. 12 meeting. 

He said the study area for the Village Project starts at around Dunkin on outer West Main Street and travels east, covering a portion of North Street up to Summer Street, down East Main Street with a portion of Essex Street included, and on South Street to around Pine Street. Dunton said the purpose is “really to make things safer for all modes of transportation.”

“To make it better, it makes people want to walk and bike and go through the whole downtown area,” he said about those not in vehicles.

“It slows vehicles, makes people want to stop and walk and use the area and not just drive through,” Dunton added.

Those involved met with Foxcroft Academy representatives to discuss traffic coming and going from the West Main Street campus. “We believe we can improve some access management down in that area,” he said.

MDOT Region 4-5 Transportation Planner Jarod Farn-Guillette said the Villages Project is intended to create a distinct look and feel and create a sense of place.

Town Manager Jack Clukey said any improvements made would be done a few years into the future. When asked he said sewer and water line work would be done first with South, Essex, and West Main streets planned for next year “to get all that done before we start talking about these things.”

The Village Partnership Initiative is a program of the MDOT’s community-based planning program. MDOT will use investments and municipal infrastructure, such as the historic village core and/or downtown, to bring a feel and character that many historic towns had as a means to revitalize rural economy in the state of Maine as well as improve quality of life of those who live in the community and for visitors.

In other business, the board approved a pair of bids from Haley Ward of Brewer for a wastewater treatment plant project with $129,340 for the design phase and another $70,880 for the construction phase.

Clukey said Dover-Foxcroft’s wastewater treatment plant uses a lagoon system to treat waste, with the accumulated sludge needing to be excavated and there is no easy way to do this as material needs to dry before removal. He also said that Haley Ward would need to work on upgrades while the plant is still running.

The town manager said the firm’s was the only bid but “I feel fortunate we got a really good proposal from somebody that we know.” Both costs are within budget, with the funding coming through the EPA.

The selectboard approved $26,000 for a bridge and culvert study with Gorrill Palmer, which will be similar to the existing paved road, sidewalk, and gravel roads studies prioritizing improvements across town.

“We have multiple large bridge/culvert crossings in town,” Clukey said. “The sooner we know what we need to address and when, we can start looking for funding sources.”

A warming/cooling center plan was adopted by the selectboard.

“I want to be clear, a center is not a shelter,” said Carole Boothroyd of the Climate Action Advisory Committee. “It’s not an overnight shelter, it’s a temporary place where residents can get some respite from extreme temperatures.”

Boothroyd said she hopes the plan will be ready for the winter. She said the Thompson Free Library is such a center when it is open during regular hours, the town office is part of the plan, and the Dover-Foxcroft Congregational Church is looking to have space available.

“It’s a lot of work and a lot of commitment and it’s something that wouldn’t have happened without the volunteers,” Select Vice Chair Cindy Freeman Cyr said.

During public comment Piscataquis Regional YMCA Branch Manager Manda Stewart gave an update on the efforts to restart a similar organization at 48 Park Street after earlier this month the Old Town Orono YMCA Board of Directors announced that operations at the PRYMCA would be closing no later than Friday, Nov. 1. Financial reasons are being cited for the facility closure. The PRYMCA has been in operation since 1988.

In July 2022 the board of directors of the Dover-Foxcroft-based organization and the Old Town Orono YMCA formally voted to integrate as one organization. For almost two years prior the Old Town Orono YMCA had been providing leadership to the PRYMCA through a temporary management agreement. In the 2-plus years since then the PRYMCA operated as a branch of the Old Town Orono YMCA.

Stewart said just before the selectboard season, 104 community members attended a meeting at the Central Hall Commons on the effort to reopen. “Everyone is in agreement to fight for the facility and endowment,” she said.

The new group now has the name Piscataquis Area Community Center, an email list is available through paccmaine@gmail.com, and a Facebook page.

The PRYCMA has an approximately $668,000 endowment with the Maine Community Foundation. The mortgage and the deed are both in the name of the PRYMCA.

For a number of years the Dover-Foxcroft municipal budget has included funding for the PRYMCA. In 2024-25 the total is again $35,000, distributed monthly and not earmarked for any specific purpose at the facility at 48 Park Street. During the Oct. 15 meeting of the selectboard the town officials passed a motion saying the nine months of remaining monies, about $24,000, earmarked for the PRYMCA would instead go to the then unnamed new group.

Previously Old Town Orono YMCA officials have said they are willing to work with anyone with a business plan to take over the Dover-Foxcroft facility.

Clukey said he wanted to clarify comments made during a Zoom webinar held earlier in the month by Old Town Orono YMCA CEO Scott Wilcox. The town manager said he and Foxcroft Academy Head of School Arnold Shorey were not told about the impending shuttering of the PRYMCA before the news was made public but instead talks were held on financials.

“They just blindsided us like everybody else,” Clukey said. “It’s very unfortunate they are even trying to suggest they reached out to the community on this.”

Selectperson Joel Vail suggested making a request to have some Old Town Orono YMCA officials come to a future meeting. He said this board may not respond but “we would like to have an honest conversation.”

Stewart said with the PRYMCA building closure, the Piscataquis Area Community Center would need some office space. 

Select Chair Tom Lizotte suggested Stewart check with the Central Hall Commons, which does have space.