02-12-2018 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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To the Orono City Council: I am writing to ask the city to decline the request of Eric and Liz Vogstrom to vacate the fire lane located between our properties. My family has lived at 2600 Casco Point Road for almost forty years. We purchased the land and built our home in the area because of the location. I grew up in Orono (class of 1956) and have always loved living here. A major incentive for my wife and me to purchase the land was the fact that it abutted a fire lane. We knew that the fire lane added significant value to the land. We also knew that the fire lane was and is public property and that the city of Orono prohibited any motor vehicles and that the fire lane had restricted hours of use. Vacating the fire lane (i.e. donating a valuable lakeshore property to Mr. Vogstrom) would be an affront to common sense and contrary to the City of Orono's written philosophy. The city has spent millions of dollars to provide the residents with open space and park land. To donate a large lakeshore lot to benefit only Mr.Vogstrom is simply wrong. In Mr. Vogstrom's request to the city to vacate/donate the public property to him, he wrote that he has "fertilized it" and "mowed it" and "maintained it". Mr. Vogstrom has done all of that. He has also taken the liberty to dig trenches in it in order to run high voltage power lines, low voltage power lines, invisible fencing, irrigation pipes and lighting. I invite any council member(s) or citizens of Orono to visit the fire lane and see for themselves. The "nature path" that Mr. Vogstrom wrote about in his letter to the city existed before he built his house. The fire lane used to be a nature path. The fire lane as it was and how my wife and children used it is long gone. The natural vegetation on the path has been bulldozed and replaced by Kentucky blue grass. The large amount of fertilizer Mr. Vogstrom uses has caused large algae blooms. Many yards of black dirt have been hauled in to raise the grade so Mr. Vogstrom can run his motorized vehicles on it. The city placed boulders on the fire lane to prevent this but Mr. Vogstrom simply moved them. I know that the city has been responsive to resident concerns in the past, and I hope that it will support this request NOT to give the fire lane to Mr. Vogstrom. I would also ask the city to repair the fire lane and certify the costs to Mr. Vogstroms property taxes. There is no other way. I should also mention that the house is for sale. Thank you for reading this. Respectfully, Paul and Mary Ellen Kaster