Dexter council expands ATV access to six roads

DEXTER — A half dozen more roads in Dexter will be open to ATVs, including the Owlsboro Road, Pleasant Ridge Road, Shepard Road, #10 Road, Bugbee Road and Crockett Road from the #10 Road to the North Dexter Road, as the town council approved an amendment to the motor vehicle and traffic ordinance allowing it during a Dec. 10 meeting.

During the November council meeting, Town Manager Trampas King said requests were made to open up some travelways from the railroad bed to the Lakeshore Restaurant and Lake Wassookeag. “These roads here are all back roads, they are not in town and most of them are dirt roads,” King said last month.

Councilors also continued discussions about uses for the Reddy Building at 51 High Street, which once was Plummer Memorial Hospital. Council Chairperson Marcia Delaware said councilors have met multiple times with owner Dr. Challa Reddy as well as resident Frank Spizuoco. Spizuoco, owner of Millworks llc on Church Street, has walked through the Reddy Building, is interested in the property and a lease arrangement/real estate sale could be set up in the future should the town assume ownership.

“Dr. Reddy, his practice is out of the building,” King said. “He would like to donate the building to the town.”

King said next to the Reddy Building property is the Northern Light Health’s Hewitt Building. “There are some issues with easements and parking rights,” he said.

The town manager said a lease arrangement could take the burden off the town and “it gives us the right to determine what happens to that building.”

“I am against this because the tax base is around $4,000. We’re taking that income out of the town,” Councilor Steve Gudroe said as each member was asked their thoughts. He also mentioned potential costs with fixing a retaining wall, updating the sprinkler system and heating expenses.

“I don’t think this is beneficial to the town, therefore I would vote against it,” Gudroe said.

“We do honestly believe this is a very gracious offer,” Gudroe said to Dr. Reddy later in the evening.

Andrew Bermudez cited potential long-term costs of buildings falling into disrepair. “Because of that I’m willing to say we go into it,” he said.

Chuck Ellms said he would be in favor of the town taking ownership of the Reddy Building in some capacity. He mentioned three decades prior he was part of a meeting with Burger King officials who decided then not to come to the community, with the company representative saying  Dexter had no plans for growth.

“If we want to develop anything in town it’s going to take us to attract people,” Ellms said.

David Palmer said he does have concerns, saying the easement issue between the neighboring properties needs to be resolved regardless of what happens. “As a short-term custodial role, I would not be opposed at all,” he said, mentioning space for teleworking as a use for the near future.

Newly-elected Councilor Peter Haskell said he is still catching up on the situation, but “we have buildings now we aren’t using.”

Dr. Reddy said he wants to give the building as a thank you to the town for supporting him after two decades in practice. “They helped me, so I want to help them back,” he said. “With the right vision, the right people I am sure the town would be happy to take over.”

Last month Spizuoco said programming at the Tri-County Technical Center in Dexter is growing, using space at the building on the Dexter Regional High School campus as well as at Millworks. He said the Reddy Building could be used to house future Center growth.

“If the price is right you wouldn’t have a problem selling it,” Spizuoco said then. “If I was the town I wouldn’t be afraid of selling it.”

King said he would like to have a lease drafted before the council took a potential vote on an agreement with Spizuco.

The council accepted a $2,500 donation from Hannaford for the refurbished municipal basketball courts. 

“We need to seal that basketball court and they asked if they could donate but I told them courts are done,” King said. He said the sealing work would likely be done in June.

Councilors made a number of appointments including King as town treasurer through the end of 2021, Travis Gould as assessor for the next five years and the various boards and committees.

“That means there are three committees that still need people on them,” Delaware said. These are two vacancies for the highway/equipment committee and one for human resources/CDBG. Each seat is for a 3-year term.