Bristol, US Army reach agreement on constructing Pemi Path

BRISTOL — The town has approved an agreement with the Challenge Partnership Group to move forward with construction of the Pemi Path, a multi-use trail alongside the Pemigewasset River, between downtown Bristol and Profile Falls on Smith River.

Daniel “Buzz” Kenney of the Bristol Economic Development Committee’s Pemi Path Subcommittee told the Bristol Selectboard April 16 that the final language of the partnership between the town and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had been finalized, and the only thing holding it up at that time was obtaining updated engineering cost estimates.

The town has been working to establish the trail along land overseen by the Army Corps of Engineers for dozens of years, and the two entities have been developing a partnership agreement over the past year. The latest version took care of the remaining issues that had held it up.

“The concerns that we had is — especially in this age of federal budget retraction — I don’t want to go out and raise donations from the local community, build this thing, and then have the Corps pull it out from under us,” Kenney said, “because it’ll look like we were used as kind of backdoor taxation, and that troubles me greatly.”

He said the issue arose midway through the process, after discussions centered on a partnership, rather than arranging for a 25-year lease of the land that is part of the Franklin Flood Control Project overseen by the Army.

“It was presented to the town as if it would be a five-year agreement, and then it would renew for five years, but the current agreement before you is for the construction period only, and then we enter into a new ongoing five-year agreement after that,” Kenney said.

“Our principal concern was ... I don’t really want to fundraise for a federal project, and we’ve pursued assurances of that.”

Tia Mercer, the Army Corps’ representative, said they could not provide that assurance because “they can’t control Congress and the political winds in Washington,” Kenney said. “So this comes as close to giving us assurance in two places as we can. It specifically mentions that this is for construction only, and it will be replaced with an ongoing five-year agreement. But there is no language in here that obligates them to do that, and we’re not going to be able to get that.

“The one thing I can tell you that gives me some confidence in this is that [in] updating their master plan for the Franklin Falls flood area ... they specifically include in one of their goals ‘to encourage recreation within the floodplain area.’”

There is a possibility that the National Environmental Policy Act would require a Tier Two environmental impact study, but because the trail would be built over land previously disturbed by the construction of now-defunct Bristol Branch of the Boston and Maine Railroad, the Pemi Path likely would be eligible for a categorical exclusion under the NEPA statute. The review process to declare a categorical exclusion could delay the work for 60 to 90 days, but Kenney said he would still hope to break ground on the trail by the summer of 2027.

Last year, when seeking a Northern Border Regional Commission grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation to help cover the trail work, the project was estimated to cost $1.8 million. Costs have gone up since then, and those numbers are currently being revised.

Kenney said there has been strong community support for the trail, and he expects fundraising efforts to cover most of the cost.

“The stars are starting to align on this being a community volunteer effort, and I think most of that cost is going to be donated,” he said. “If we can get some of the materials cost assumed as well, I think we could be talking, you know, $200,000 or less.”

Once all the permits are in place, the Pemi Path Committee plans to establish a nonprofit Friends of Pemi Path and ask the town to set up a dedicated, single-purpose trust fund where all money donated will be held for the project.

“The goal is to not only raise whatever we have to raise to build this thing, but to build up a fairly large cushion, and maybe revisit the cushion periodically, every five years or whatever it takes, so that we have ongoing maintenance taken care of,” Kenney said. Local snowmobile clubs have offered to do the work if the material and supplies are provided.

The Bristol Highway Department has agreed to make room to store the aggregate material at the transfer station, so it is available for minor trail repairs due to washouts and storm damage.

“Part of this trail floods fairly regularly,” Kenney said, “but you just go out with a backhoe and spread some new aggregate, and you’re underway.”

Town Administrator Christina Goodwin cautioned, “Obviously, the intent is not to ever have to have any money come from taxation, but can we guarantee that in perpetuity? No.”

Noting there is no guarantee donations will cover maintenance of the town’s parks without the use of taxpayer money, she said, “We’ve talked about doing something to fix that as well.”

Once complete, the path will be available to walkers, bicyclists, snowmobilers, and cross-country skiers, but because it is federal land, the Army Corps Of Engineers will determine who can use it. All-terrain vehicles would be forbidden.