CAMDEN, Maine — A proposal to create a four-season trail that would run from the Camden Snow Bowl to the two ponds that serve as the region’s water supplies received a boost Tuesday from the town.
The Camden Select Board voted unanimously Tuesday night to direct the staff to work with the Coastal Mountains Land Trust to transfer two town-owned properties on Ragged Mountain to the land trust. The parcels would help create the proposed 9-mile trail.
The Camden Conservation Commission had recommended the Select Board begin negotiations with the Coastal Mountains Land Trust.
The land trust announced in June an effort to raise $4.2 million to preserve 1,400 acres as part of its effort to protect the land around Ragged and Bald mountains and to create a 9-mile trail for hikers, skiers and mountain bikers.
“This is a fabulous project,” Select Board member Donald White Jr. said.
Board member Leonard Lookner agreed, saying it was an extraordinary effort.
Ian Stewart, the executive director of the land trust, said the trail goes through the two properties owned by the town. The town-owned land totals about 60 acres, he said. The town acquired it through nonpayment of taxes many years ago but has not used it.
Much of the money being raised by the land trust is to pay Maine Water, a private water utility company, for conservation easements on 1,405 acres, Stewart said. Half of the money the water company receives will go for rebates to customers, and the other half will be to invest in the water system’s infrastructure.
Stewart said the land trust at some point expects to request that the town consider donating its water bill rebate for the project. The amount of the rebate for the town is not yet known.
The town-owned ski resort is located on Ragged Mountain. The proposed trail would go from the mountain to Route 17 where the region’s main water supply, Mirror Lake, is located as well as the back-up supply, Grassy Pond. Those ponds provide water for Rockland, Camden, Rockport, Thomaston, Warren and Owls Head.
Construction of the 9-mile Round the Mountain Trail is planned to begin in the spring of 2018 and be completed in the latter part of 2019. About $1.3 million has been raised, Stewart said Wednesday.
The project has received backing from a wide range of community groups. Pen Bay Medical Center in Rockport has endorsed the project because it promotes community wellness, and the Penobscot Bay Regional Chamber of Commerce gave its support because of the trail’s ability to strengthen the area’s year-round economy. Camden has been working to make Ragged Mountain a four-season destination.