Fort Kent trail opponent cites safety issues

FORT KENT – A woman who has been fighting most alternative routes for snowmobiles headed into the business district said Wednesday she doesn’t oppose snowsleds, but that residents need some buffer against all the noise.

Priscilla Staples said in a telephone interview she doesn’t mind having the machines downtown, so long as the route is safe and residents are protected.

“Sleds need to come into town, but it needs to be under some kind of controlled circumstance,” Staples said. “Residents need to be buffered against sound and noise pollution caused by these machines.”

The alternative selected by the Town Council, and one for which construction is nearly complete, involves use of municipally owned property along the Fort Kent Village Road.

The trail would cross Route 161, the St. John Road, across the property of Michael Voisine and travel onto the flood control dike that travels along the West Maine Street business district.

Staples has claimed that safety was not discussed when the dike trail was discussed.

“When we start to have accidents along the dike, or where they cross Route 161, we will have big problems, much bigger problems than we have now when we could be looking at alternatives,” Staples said.

“Control and safety should be the basic considerations,” she said. “I will do whatever I need to do to defend myself, my family and my tenants.”

Staples also said her opposition to routes selected by the council stems from requests she has received from other people.

She said the best route would be the shortest. The route she proposed would be direct from the Heritage Trail, the snowmobile trail from the Fish River west to St. Francis to the Fort Kent police station. It would involve buying parcels of property from three people.

“The problem with the shortest route is that it is too close to Paul Bouchard’s home and the Northern Door Inn,” Staples said, referring to a business in which Bouchard is a partner. “It’s the shortest distance between two points.”

Bouchard, who is a town councilor, was not in the area Wednesday and could not be reached.

“I am not against all access solutions, as I have been labeled in the press,” Staples said. “I am doing things to protect myself, my family and my tenants. Most people would do that.”

She said any trail into the downtown needs to have buffers to abate noise for people living along the trail. She said there are professional buffers available against the noise the machines make.

While the trail is nearly complete, a few minor details still have to be worked out.

And Staples has filed an appeal, which is scheduled to be heard by the Fort Kent zoning board of appeals Monday.