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Cape Elizabeth Group Takes Steps to Finance Pathway

December 01, 2009 - CAPE ELIZABETH -- Back in September, the Cape Elizabeth Town Council approved a two-mile pathway that would run along picturesque Shore Road, linking town center with Robinson Woods and Fort Williams Park.

The council also approved an expenditure of $110,000 for final design work and permitting.

But councilors stopped there, essentially telling townspeople that the rest of the money for the roughly $1 million project will need to come from grants and donations.

Since then, a small group of Cape residents has quietly been exploring grant options and planning a private fundraising effort that's expected to be announced next year.

The group, called Safe Access For Everyone, intends to work closely with town officials to make the pathway a reality. The group's mission is to support the development of sidewalks, paths and other projects that connect the neighborhoods of Cape Elizabeth with the schools, library and shops at town center.

"Cape has a good track record of raising private and public funds for these type of projects," said Rory Strunk. The Shore Road resident and businessman serves on the Safe Access For Everyone committee with Jim Kerney and Jim Tasse.

"I think of it as similar to the turf field, which has really become a community rallying spot," Strunk said. A private group raised more than $800,000 to build the artificial turf field at the town's high school in 2007. Donations in that effort ranged from $5 to $100,000.

The pathway concept has stirred controversy. Some residents opposed the pathway, citing various concerns that ranged from cost to safety to the loss of Shore Road's rural character. Others pushed for the idea, saying the pathway would bolster community ties, increase safety for pedestrians and joggers and allow children to walk or bike to school.

More than 25 residents spoke at a Sept. 14 public hearing, and town councilors received about 200 e-mails on the issue, most of them in favor of the pathway. Councilors voted in support of the project following the hearing.

The preliminary design prepared by landscape architect John Mitchell recommends a 10,200-foot path, at a width of 5 feet in most areas, constructed mostly of asphalt. The latest cost estimate is $979,000 -- $677,000 for construction, $179,000 for engineering and design, and a $123,000 contingency.

Town Manager Michael McGovern met earlier this month with the Safe Access For Everyone group and representatives from the Maine Department of Transportation.

"The DOT folks were letting us know about grants we could apply for," McGovern said. The timing of the grants would make money available in 2011 if Cape Elizabeth were to win the awards, he said.

Strunk hopes the project will win grants from a variety of sources, such as the state DOT, the Department of Conservation and the Office of Community Development. Most of the available grants require a 20 percent local match. Safe Access For Everyone would raise money toward that 20 percent, Strunk said.

"We'll be looking to go out and pull together enough donations to contribute to the building of the pathway," he said. "The good news is that the pathway itself, from a public funding point of view, looks really solid. The wheels are turning for the town to go after its share of grants.

"In my heart of hearts, I think every man, woman and child in Cape Elizabeth will find something to like about the Shore Road path."

By TREVOR MAXWELL Staff Writer, Portland Press Herald, November 27, 2009


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