ATHOL – In May, several dozen residents attended a public meeting to give their opinions regarding the future of the 100-acre Bidwell property located off of South Athol Road.

Now, town officials want to expand that conversation through an online survey.

Accessible through the town’s website and Facebook page, the survey, which was posted on July 20, covers a range of topics, including possible uses for the land and what ranks the highest for respondents. The survey covers historical uses and possible open space functions, such as recreational fields and hiking trails. It also asks if there’s support for continuing the Rabbit Run Rail Trail through the property.

Surveys must be filled out by Aug. 11. According to Planning and Development Director Eric Smith, the survey has been completed more than 300 times.

The questions, according to Town Manager Shaun Suhoski, were developed by BSC Group, which polled attendees at the May meeting. Questions were reviewed by the town’s Planning Department before the survey was posted. BSC’s services were secured through a $35,000 grant from the state’s Community Compact Cabinet.

“We’re really trying to test the community at large regarding open space and recreation,” he said. “For example, do you mean passive open space? Do you mean ‘let’s have a rail trail and maybe some mountain biking trails, and some active recreation to go with it? Should we have a farmers market, a performance space? What do we do with the barn?’”

One question which Suhoski is particularly interested in deals with the possibility of establishing a link to Route 2 at South Athol Road. At the meeting in May, many opposed the idea. Suhoski hopes to see a strong response to the survey.

“This is a community plan. It’s not my plan,” he added. “The board wants to hear from the community.”

The Bidwell Farm was acquired by the town in 2009 using proceeds from the sale of an old middle school, which was later turned into the School Street apartments. The town paid $550,000 for the property, according to Suhoski. The location was initially eyed as a potential site for a new school.

“We’ve talked about Bidwell for several years,” said Suhoski, “and this year (the Selectboard) kind of restated the goal to initiate a community-wide planning process for the use of the property. They included that in my goals last November.”

Suhoski said the initial planning meeting in May had a focus on open space, land preservation and recreation. A secondary theme was some level of housing, which is what the area is zoned for.

Responses will be compiled and presented in a draft final report format to the Board of Selectmen.

“The board will weigh that, maybe they’ll come up with an action plan, or maybe they’ll put it on hold and decide to revisit it in five years,” said Suhoski. “We don’t know exactly where this will end up.”

Greg Vine can be reached at gvineadn@gmail.com.

]]>