THOMASTON — Eighteen committed Thomaston citizens have been meeting since September twice a month to create a vision for the Thomaston Green, owned collectively by the town citizens. It is has been six months of lively conversations, with, “a lot of positive energy,” said Thomaston Green Park ad hoc Co-chair Jonathan Eaton.

The committee will meet again Feb. 6 at 6 p.m. at the Thomaston Municipal Building, in the Select Board Room and will be streamed live. The public meeting’s agenda will focus on mapping and design, and conversation about a previous meeting with conservation law attorney Rob Levin.

The committee was formed following the 2023 Thomaston Annual Town Meeting when citizens voted to create a public open space in perpetuity, approximately five acres in size, and be known as the Thomaston Green Park.

Questions about the term “in perpetuity” have arisen, and whether a future town vote could change how a municipality determines the future of a park. 

Does the Thomaston Green Park need an extra layer of protection with a conservation easement? The voters provided a level of protection for the park, but is it enough?

Those are conversations underway in Thomaston, a town of approximately 2,800 residents.

The committee is also embarking on what Eaton referenced as the fun part of the process: Mapping location of new trees and benches, and otherwise envisioning public amenities at the park.

Additionally, the committee is communicating with other entities that are sited for two other carved-out parcels on the Green – the new Thomaston fire station, and the nonprofit Knox Clinic.

“We want the whole thing to fit together harmoniously,” said Eaton.

Committee members and volunteer students studying landscape design are looking at other established New England green spaces, such as the Emerald Necklace, in Boston, for ideas. The Emerald Necklace is seven mile-long, 1,100-acre network of parks that extends from Boston’s Back Bay through Dorchester.

Thomaston’s 2020 Comprehensive Plan calls for a more efficient network of trails, which, by its overall vision, presents a distinguishing feature of the town itself, said Eaton.

Most immediately, logistical discussions also include how develop infrastructure amenities, such as solar electricity for the gazebo, the purchase of additional benches, piping fresh water to the gazebo, and mapping a perimeter pathway that is ADA accessible. The committee has $26,000 of municipal funds tucked away that can be used for those goals.

The work of the ad hoc committee will come to an end when it has its recommendations ready to deliver to the Select Board, perhaps completed this summer. Then, the committee will sunset, said Eaton.

Reach Editorial Director Lynda Clancy at lyndaclancy@penbaypilot.com; 207-706-6657