Woolwich selectmen will get engineering estimates for providing handicap access to the Nequasset Park swimming area.

On Monday night, the board asked Jonathan DeWick of Pine Tree Engineering, Inc. of Bath to come up with several options for consideration.

At this year’s town meeting, voters raised $3,700 for surveying and engineering to bring the swimming area into compliance with requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The park, located behind the municipal building, also serves as a boat launch into Nequasset Brook.

Selectmen exchanged ideas with DeWick along with Joan Jordan and Sue Whittaker, two members of the Nequasset Park Improvement Committee.

Prior to the meeting, Whittaker told the newspaper she’d been working on providing handicapped accessibility at the swimming area for three years. Whittaker has a handicapped son.   

“Maybe this will be the year it finally happens,” she said.

Selectmen’s Chairman David King Sr. began the discussion by asking DeWick to explain what the ADA required of the town.

DeWick said ADA requirements varied for recreational areas like Nequasset Park. The intent of the law is to provide access to as many people as possible, including those with special needs.

The challenge in Woolwich’s case is providing swimming access at the park to people confined to a wheelchair or have difficulty walking, relying on a walker for assistance.

The board discussed but rejected an idea to place a float and ramp in the brook.

“We had a float given to the town several years ago and it was cut loose and wound up downstream over the dam,” Selectman Jason Shaw commented.

After further discussion it was decided a more practical solution might be to repair or replace a cement ramp leading into the brook.

Whittaker said the current ramp had deteriorated over the years and needed addressing anyway.

Bruce Engert, code enforcement officer, suggested if the ramp were replaced, a railing might be added, making it both easier and safer for people to use.

Jordan asked the board to consider adding an additional handicap parking space to serve the swimming area. The parking lot currently has two handicap spaces, one in the swimming area and one near the boat launch.

King said he’d go along with adding an additional handicap parking space but not expanding the parking area.

“You have an idea what we want,” he told DeWick. “We’re looking for something that will require as little maintenance as necessary.”

DeWick said state matching funds were available to help pay for the improvements.

Selectmen want to review Pine Tree Engineering’s options at a workshop meeting 5 p.m., Monday, Sept. 19.

Talking trash bags

Don Adams asked selectmen if they’d decided what to do with several thousand surplus WasteZero trash bags. The bags, stored in the basement of the municipal building, were left over after the town opted out of the pay-per-bag program.

King said the board initially hoped to sell some or even all of the bags.  “We even had somebody who was interested but when he saw how many there were he said forget it.”

Adams suggested since they were bought using taxpayers’ money the trash bags be given away to residents.

Selectman Lloyd Coombs called this year’s Woolwich Days a big success and thanked its many volunteers.

The winner of this year’s Woolwich Days’ Fun Run was Alex Maccio 12, of Woolwich. Maccio’s age was incorrectly reported in last week’s edition.