A much-delayed project to turn a Boothbay Harbor-owned gateway area into a recreational park will not be completed until next spring as the town seeks approval from the planning board and Department of Environmental Protection. The latest setback is due to an initial miscalculation of goal posts as the early blueprints were not drawn to scale, said Boothbay Harbor Town Manager Tom Woodin. 

“I would be wondering why it’s taking so long, too,” said Selectman Wendy Wolf. “Because it goes into wetland and drainage the project will require permitting and setbacks. One might think it would be easy just to level and put a tennis court on it but it requires permitting.”

In 2015, selectmen voted unanimously to authorize Woodin to begin work on the land, at the intersection of Townsend Avenue and Emery Lane, using a design proposed by Danielle Betts of Knickerbocker Group.

The work involves changes to landscaping, parking area renovations, a picnic area, and two sport courts, one for pickleball and one for basketball. The basketball court will also be striped for two additional pickleball courts. 

Due to the changes, the basketball court will now have an out of bounds area and the pickleball court is wider, said Woodin.

At a meeting in June, Woodin discussed the project’s cost, a figure he pegged at roughly $59,000. The town has already committed approximately $30,000.

“This may have to be done in phases,” said Woodin. “We aren’t just sitting still, there is a lot being discussed and worked on.”

According to Woodin, the two biggest expenses are $10,000 to surface the courts and $29,000 for plants and installation of the plantings.

The latest development will increase the cost estimates beyond the $30,000 already set aside. The amount will be discussed during budget talks beginning in December.

“I think with all the work public works has scheduled, I don’t think we’ll get this going in the fall,” said Woodin. 

The board voted unanimously to accept the repositioning of both the basketball and pickleball courts as depicted in the diagram Woodin presented. Chairman Denise Griffin sought and was given assurance by Woodin that the final design of the recreational area will be updated before the permit application is sent.

“We talk about this project every day so we’ll get there,” said Woodin. 

In other action, Wolf updated the board on an online poll to officially name a marketing campaign designed to dovetail with Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens’ “Garden Aglow” event in November. 

“I think it’s ginned up a lot of support from residents and businesses,” said Wolf. 

Among the choices are Harbor Lights of Boothbay, Boothbay Festival of Lights, and Boothbay Winter Glow. The goal of the marketing and event plan is to encourage visitors to stay and extend their time visiting the area when they come to Gardens Aglow, a popular event held at CMBG in late autumn/early winter. The event drew an estimated 36,000 visitors last year and members of the select board have been seeking a way to bring those visitors to the town proper.

During his report, Selectman Russ Hoffman provided the board with fresh statistics on the ambulance service.

“The ambulance service had 64 calls in the first nine days of July,” said Hoffman. “There’s been nearly 1,000 calls in the first half of this year.”

Hoffman publicly thanked the ambulance crews and support staff for their continued efforts.

Selectmen are scheduled to meet on Monday, August 8 at 7 p.m.