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<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD colSpan=2><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR vAlign=bottom><TD colSpan=2>Echo Point residents have their say with board
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR vAlign=top><TD>by Brendan Berube
Contributing Writer (http://www.thebaysider.com/1editorialtablebody.lasso?-token.searchtype=authorroutine&-token.lpsearchstring=Brendan%20Berube&-nothing)</TD><TD>
</TD></TR><TR><TD colSpan=2>http://www.thebaysider.com/images/z.gif</TD></TR><TR><TD colSpan=2>July 26, 2007
ALTON — The residents of Echo Point, a residential area located near the intersection of Echo Point Road and Sawmill Brook Road on the shore of Alton Bay, aired their concerns over public use of town-owned land in the area during an informational meeting at the July 23 selectmen's meeting.
Town Administrator Russell Bailey offered some background on the area, explaining that the town owns three parcels of land at Echo Point. Two of those parcels are located on the water and accessed by private roads, and the third is located off a private road, with the majority of the parcel made up of wetlands.
There is also a boat ramp (which Bailey said is not in good condition) located on a town road right-of-way, which sees heavy use by the public during the spring and summer.
Chairman Alan Sherwood explained that the selectmen have not discussed among themselves any options for using the town-owned land at Echo Point, and would not discuss the issue until selectmen Steve McMahon and Peter Bolster (who were absent from Monday night's meeting) had been brought up to speed.
"We are open to hearing from the people who live in the area," Sherwood said, encouraging residents to come forward with their concerns, comments, criticisms and suggestions.
The chief concern for resident Ron Cavallo was congestion at the boat ramp. Cavallo explained that he and nine other families have easements allowing them to use the boat ramp, but that the traffic and parking problems near the ramp often prevent them from being able to exercise those easements. He felt that a "big piece" of the traffic issues at Echo Point would be resolved if public use of the ramp was restricted.
Cavallo also mentioned having seen a number of fights break out at the boat ramp, and said that he and his son had both been assaulted in the area.
Tom Salvetti, president of the Echo Point Association, submitted paperwork to the selectmen, which he said shows that the deeds to the three parcels of town-owned land at Echo Point restrict use of the land to residential purposes only.
"That makes me question why the town would own a piece of property that they can't [do anything with]," he said.
John Zaugg was primarily concerned with parking problems on Sawmill Brook Road. During the winter and summer months, he said, people tend to park "every which way" along the road, preventing emergency vehicles from being able to get through.
In the winter, Zaugg said, snowmobilers who use a trail that runs across Sawmill Brook create further traffic problems for residents by riding over freshly plowed snow banks and pushing the snow back into the road.
Echo Point Road resident Larry Collins said the issue at hand is what the town of Alton should do with its vacant space.
Alton, Collins said, is "an enjoyable place to live," but it currently faces the same problem plaguing a number of towns throughout New England: namely, the fact that its open land is being consumed by new homes and development.
If the town were to develop the land around Echo Point, he said, the road itself (which is currently one lane wide) would have to be widened. Paving over wetlands in the name of development, he said, is "not what Alton's about."
Widening Echo Point Road and developing the surrounding area would also be an expensive proposition for the town, he said, as residents would fight it and it would mean additional police patrols and possibly more lifeguards at the waterfront areas.
"What are you going to do with me?" asked Ethyl Hellender, whose property rests within two of the town-owned parcels.
Hellender explained that she and her husband have owned property at Echo Point for 25 years, raising their children there. The couple also has 13 grandchildren who she said come to Alton to enjoy their "little postage stamp" of land.
Those three parcels of land, Hellender said, were given to the town with the understanding that they would be left in their present condition. She urged the selectmen not to go back on the town's word.
Hellender's husband, Arthur, who said he was in the environmental safety business, explained that Echo Point Road current "doesn't go anywhere."
"You don't have any good routes there to propose access in and out," Arthur said. "You've got to think in the long haul about how that road is going to be used, and used by whom."
Selectman Pat Fuller assured the Hellenders that the town has no plans at this point to do anything with the land at Echo Point.
"We're not looking to destroy anything down there," Fuller said, adding that the board was prompted to action by complaints about the parking problems in the area.
Elaine Shields, who lives on Echo Point Road, commended the town for providing a beach, a swimming dock, a boat ramp and restroom facilities at the bay for public use, and urged the selectmen not to open Echo Point to the public.
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