Heather Corriveau

To the editor,

Dear citizens of Alton:

As the date draws near for voting, I wanted to have one last chance to draw light to Article 38 and why voting NO is so important. Selectman Bolster and the Downtown Revitalization Committee, have decided that the perfect walking path to continue from the Railroad Park should run directly through the backyards and front yards of fellow citizens so that the walkway can be connected to the traffic circle.

I want to be very clear here, I feel that this is not the place to put a walkway, especially when there are sidewalks going in the same direction, that are in better view and less likely to be abused. During the deliberative session, there were discussions based on sidewalks in the town, including one to buy machinery that will better care for the sidewalks. Now, I know that I am getting older, but the same sidewalks are there now that used to get me anywhere I needed to go in Alton prior to the age of 16.

When I asked Selectman Bolster directly about what “town resources” meant on the article, he explained that the town workers would be responsible for the upkeep of the walking path along with volunteers. In the same breath, he said that “it won’t cost the taxpayers a thing”. Well, last I knew our taxes pay for the town workers. So by creating a new walking path, parallel with town sidewalks, the walking path is adding more hours and work for us to pay for. In addition, I asked what would happen if someone should fall and get hurt on the walking path. Selectman Bolster answered that it would be the town’s responsibility. In this sue-happy nation, do we really want to cover a medical lawsuit that can be created by this walking path?

During the deliberative session, it was very clear where Selectman Bolster stood regarding the walking path as he preached from the selectmens' podium, instead of being on the floor with the fellow citizens regarding this matter. After growing tired of hearing his comparison of Alton with Wolfeboro, I reminded him that we live in Alton and have our own wonderful attributes and do not need to try to compare to Wolfeboro’s 165 acre walking path that goes along Lake Wentworth. Quite frankly, if you like that path so much, keep using it! I, myself, enjoy it every year.

In a recent article regarding the walking path, Judy Fry, who is also on the Downtown Revitalization Committee, stated that the committee has “chosen to refrain from hearing complaints from the abutters”. I could not believe that, as that is the very reason why we have democracy. All voices should be heard in our town! I imagine if the walking path was going to go through her yard, she would want to be heard. Making the situation even more hypocritical, the DRC has stated recently that if the abutters had issues with the pathway, they could have come to any of the meetings. Am I the only one seeing the irony in their statements?

As I said in the deliberative session, this is not just about the walking path and the abutters. It is not a small amount of abutters who are trying to prevent Alton citizens from being able to walk on a safe pathway. It is about anyone that owns property in Alton. It is about the selectmen, particularly Peter Bolster, making a decision that this is what they want and then calling anyone who opposes the decision “minorities”.

In a recent paper, it was stated by a DRC member that the abutters were trying to keep property that belongs to Alton away from “all the people” and keeping it only for their use. This was such a pathetic effort to try to portray the abutters as the enemy. Though you were shown documentation and can view this documentation in the library regarding boundaries, just know that there is also documentation that is held by others that oppose what the DRC is showing you. This same situation had come to play about 20+ years ago and Edna Twombly had partnered with another abutter and hired a lawyer who was able to prove that in fact this strip of land did not belong to the town. The abutters were told that now that documentation does not count and that their deeds do not count. Even the idea of “adverse possession”, the abutters were told doesn’t count.

This land, that Bolster and his followers want to use, is a small strip that runs very closely with abutters taking you to the traffic circle. Imagine, for one moment, how you would feel if you look out your back window and saw Bolster and his fellow “avid” walkers looking back at you? If you open your door that is within 12 feet of the path and have a person that you have never met before looking over your property, or even your children? In this day and age, I don’t believe that anyone would simply overlook these possible issues that Bolster and the DRC are trying to create.

I ask you to consider how you would feel if this were happening to you and your property? Please vote NO on Article 38 and show the selectmen that Alton citizens will not stand for this undermining behavior. Hopefully, this type of vote would redirect the current selectmen’s focus onto what Alton already has which are perfectly useful sidewalks that get us around the downtown of Alton and will also be connected to the future sidewalks of the Alton Circle plans. We really do not need to impede on fellow citizens to have walking paths that parallel with our sidewalks for our avid walkers of Alton.

Heather Corriveau

Alton