Gorham Town Council Tuesday approved appropriating $245,000 to build a baseball field and parking lot on the town’s Chick Property. The approval mirrored a vote last month.

GORHAM — The Town Council Tuesday voted to confirm its February decision to fund a baseball field and parking lot on the town-owned Chick Property off Main Street.

The board voted 6-1 (Paul Smith opposed) to spend $245,000 to construct the project as outlined in Phase 1 of the property’s master plan. The vote was a duplicate of one on Feb. 5.

Town Councilor Jim Hager sponsored the measure this week to reconsider the item in an effort to clarify any misunderstandings that included location of the ball field on the Chick Property.

“I have no problem investing this money in the community,” Hager said.

Rather, he said, he was concerned about the trails through the site.

Town Council Chairman Ben Hartwell said Wednesday in an email, “It’s my understanding that the ball field and parking lot will have a minimal impact on the trail system as a whole.”

Ernie Wells, a member of the town’s Conservation Commission, told the board the the project would require a reconfiguration of the trailhead of the Claire Drew Trail through the property. The commission manages the trail.

Hartwell doesn’t believe that “any sort of easement or right of way for the trails” had been established.

“The trails have been rerouted in the past due to impacts from an ice storm, microburst and tornado; they will likely be rerouted in the future,” he said.

The 80-acre Chick Property is adjacent to Narragansett Elementary School. Town Manager Ephrem Paraschak said Sebago Technics, an engineering firm, would mark where the field will be located. “This project will complement school facilities,” Paraschak said.

After lengthy Town Council discussion about the exact location of the ball field Tuesday, it was finally brought up that the Planning Board had previously approved the Phase 1 project and “nothing” could be tweaked after Planning Board approval. “It’s a done deal,” Hager said.

A move to table further review of the matter for a month failed.

Following the board’s vote, Hartwell said the item carries again.

The Gorham Public Safety complex sits on part of the property at the intersection of  Main Street and Chick Drive.

Gorham voters in 2011 rejected a $3 million proposal for a stadium with artificial turf to be constructed on the Chick Property.

Robert Lowell can be reached at 780-9089 or email rlowell@keepmecurrent.com.