FREEPORT

After two years and more than 1,000 volunteer hours, Freeport’s Active Living Task Force will present the draft Active Living Plan to the Town Council for acceptance tonight.

“This is really a plan for the people, by the people,” said Active Living Task Force chairwoman Anne-Marie Davee, who will present the draft plan to the council at its regular meeting tonight. “We’re really excited that it’s finally here; we have accomplished our charge to create an Active Living Plan,” she said.

The volunt eer-based Active Living Task Force was appointed by the Town Council two years ago, said Davee, and was tasked with creating a guide for promoting active living in Freeport. The council allocated funds to contract The Street Plans Collaborative, a consulting agency that designs cyclist- and pedestrianfriendly environments.

More than 800 residents contributed to the plan, which Davee described as a “guiding visionary document,” by responding to an active living survey and attending two forums the task force hosted to gather feedback on the plan in November 2013 and January 2014.

The draft plan, developed by The Street Plans Collaborative principal Mike Lydon and the task force, includes 88 projects, 26 of which are considered priority projects. As part of these projects, the plan proposes 2.2 miles of new sidewalk be constructed and 25 new or improved bike parking locations are recommended.

The projects focus on connecting or enhancing eight activity centers in Freeport identified by Lydon, which include, down- town Freeport; Hedgehog Mountain and the Pownal and Hunter Road recreational fields; the North Freeport recreation area; East Freeport trails; Wolfe’s Neck Farm and Wolfe’s Neck State Park; South Freeport Village; the Casco Bay YMCA and Cousins River trail and Winslow Park.

“This whole plan is based on the premise that we’re looking for ways to allow for Freeport residents to be active in a safe manner,” said Davee. “What I’m excited about is that there is something for every resident regardless of where they live in the community.”

The estimated cost of projects ranges between low- or no-cost efforts based on volunteer initiatives to high-cost capital projects such as building a pedestrian bridge over I- 295. According to the draft plan, 20 sources of funding for the recommended projects have been identified.

The plan was reviewed by the town Planning Board on May 7, said Davee, who “had a list of suggestions which were awesome and were incorporated into the latest version” of the plan dated May 19.

The Planning Board then recommended that the amended plan be accepted by the Town Council, noting that it is consistent with the vision of the town’s Comprehensive Plan.

“They were looking to make it less bike-centric and wanted more about water trails and water access,” said Davee of the Planning Board’s recommendations. “And they made a recommendation to put more of the health benefits of active living — if you have more residents living healthy it is a benefit to the community because they have fewer health risks,” she added.

The Planning Board also recommended that it be made clear in the document that the draft plan “is not a mandate for future projects or funding,” said Davee.

“The (Town Council) would be accepting the plan as a resource document,” said Davee, “which we could use if we were seeking outside funding or working with public entities to implement projects.”

The plan recommends that the Town Council appoint an Active Living Advisory Committee, said Davee, that would oversee implementation of the plan, including identifying sources and applying for funding, and identifying ways to fold the plan’s objectives into existing capital projects.

“The first projects which would be great for the advisory committee to focus on are the ones that are quick and don’t cost much,” said Davee. “For example, working with public safety to design an education campaign about how pedestrians should be safe.”

Signage indicating trails and bike paths to increase wayfinding would be another low-cost plan that could be implemented to enhance public safety, said Davee.

“If they’re repaving a road, maybe they could extend the shoulder by a foot, or stencil ‘Share The Road’ on the roadways,” said Davee.

“Any major projects would have to go through the normal public process,” said Davee, “and the advisory committee would be in charge of seeing that implementation went forward in the appropriate ways.”

The draft Active Living Plan is available online on the Freeport’s website.

The Freeport Town Council will meet tonight at 6:30 p.m. in the Town Council chambers at the Freeport Town Hall located at 30 Main St.