AUGUSTA – Plans for a lodge along a proposed cross-country ski trail inched forward when a state regulatory staff said there’s no need for an investigation into a lease arrangement for the property.

The Public Utilities Commission staff found no grounds for an investigation into the lease agreement between Central Maine Power Co. and the Western Mountain Foundation, which plans to build lodges and trails around Flagstaff Lake.

The PUC is expected to act on the staff recommendation at its March 3 meeting. Even if it’s accepted, the Western Mountain Foundation’s plan to build a lodge on the 29-acre parcel in Dead River Township would need approval from the state Land Use Regulation Commission.

The land is just north of the 33,000-acre Bigelow Preserve on the eastern shore of Flagstaff Lake.

The foundation, based in Carrabassett Valley, wants to build a dozen lodges along a 180-mile trail between Newry and Rockwood.

The land had been acquired by CMP during the 1940s as part of a plan to build a hydroelectric power station, according to Maine Public Advocate Stephen Ward.

Because it was acquired under the threat of eminent domain, Ward told the PUC, the utility should not be allowed to profit from the land’s development.