BIDDEFORD — Most hikers and mountain bikers who use Clifford Park assume that the undeveloped land they traverse is all city-owned, when in fact some of the trails weave through private property.

That will soon change, with the city’s purchase of more than 50 acres of undeveloped land separating the two parcels that comprise Clifford Park.

The 55.5-acre property, assessed at $318,300 in 2010, is “the heart of the park,” said City Councilor George Lamontagne. It has been owned and maintained by the Boutin family.

City councilors unanimously approved the purchase of the property for $290,000 Tuesday night, with Councilors David Bourque and Alfred Lamontagne absent.

The city will be responsible for $130,000, which will be taken from its undesignated funds. The city’s Ad Hoc Open Space Committee secured remaining funds from two grant sources, said committee Chairman Bill Durkin.

Durkin said the committee has been working since June to secure grant funding, to make the purchase more affordable for the city.

The committee recently received a $110,000 grant from The Nature Conservancy’s Maine Natural Resource Conservation Program and a $50,000 grant from the Maine Coast Heritage Trust.

While noting that $130,000 is a significant amount of money for the city to pay, given the hard economic times, Durkin said, “It’s way less than $290,000. This is too good of a project to pass up.”

Councilor Rick Laverriere, who opposed the city’s purchase of 4 acres surrounding the West-Brook Skating Rink in 2009, said Tuesday that he is now glad the city bought that parcel.

“Even though these are tough times right now, some things you need to do,” he said in support of buying the adjoining 55.5 acres from Alfred Boutin.

Durkin said the family will retain a portion of the property near their home on Atlantic Avenue. He said the purchase is a step toward preserving significant parcels of open space in the city.

The land purchase is the first project fully involving the all-volunteer Ad Hoc Open Space Committee, which Mayor Joanne Twomey created two years ago.

Durkin, an advocate for open space as committee chairman and as president of the Friends of Rachel Carson Wildlife Refuge, said the committee expects to have a draft of the city’s open space plan completed this spring.

“We are working on doing inventory of large, unfragmented pieces of undeveloped land,” Durkin said. “Even though the city needs taxed space, there needs to be a balance to have open space for recreation.”

 

Staff Writer Emma Bouthillette can be contacted at 791-6325 or at: ebouthillette@pressherald.com

 

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