CAPE ELIZABETH – Groups holding events such as the Beach to Beacon road race at Fort Williams Park in Cape Elizabeth could pay more for that access under a plan being discussed by the park’s advisory group.

The Fort Williams Advisory Commission on Aug. 19 began its review of recommendations by Town Manager Mike McGovern for increasing short-term revenue at the park, which faces mounting maintenance and capital needs. Commissioners also discussed how to balance the need for additional revenue with the desire to keep the park open and available to residents and visitors.

McGovern’s recommendations follow a town vote in June that, for the second time in four years, rejected a proposal to collect parking fees at the popular site, which draws an estimated 250,000 visitors a year, many to see the historic Portland Head Light.

Aside from changes to the group use policy, of which details have not been ironed out, recommendations from McGovern also include constructing a small area to rent out for weddings or other social gatherings, permitting push-cart food vendors and considering offering the storage units in the park to for-profit businesses.

“I think what he is trying to do here is create a platform to move forward,” said Public Works Director Bob Malley, who serves as a staff contact for the advisory commission. “We have tried vehicle fees. We really need to now focus discussion on maintenance needs and capital needs and how we are going to fund those projects.”

Currently, groups under 50 people can use the park without prior approval. Groups between 50 and 150 people must get approval from Malley and groups of more than 150 people must have approval from McGovern prior to using the park. The fee for such events is $1 per person. This policy was altered a number of times through the years, most recently in December 2008, Malley said.

Commission member Chuck Wilson suggested the easiest way to charge large groups to use the park for special events in the future may be to base it on their use, with large multiple-day events being charged more than large, one-day events and smaller events.

He also recommended that while the commission reworks the group use policy, it not only considers the kinds of events the park has hosted in the past, but also the types of events that could be held on the property in the future.

“We need to be prepared for potential other events coming so we don’t have to revisit it again when that event comes,” he said.

Commission member Bill Nickerson brought up the possibility of charging for group use on a sliding scale, with 50 cents per person up to 1,000 people, $1 per person up to 2,000 and so on.

A fee structure like that could seriously impact the Beach to Beacon road race, which brings thousands of runners, volunteers and spectators to the park for the annual event in August.

The commission members seemed to be in agreement to change the fee system for the Beach to Beacon, partly because of its intense use of the park, which includes accessing the site for setup in the days before the event and monopolizing the park on race day, but such a system has not been decided upon yet. Malley said race officials have been notified that charging participants may be coming. Currently there is no charge for Beach to Beacon participants to use the park.

Because the race involves thousands of spectators, the commission felt it would be next to impossible to charge Beach to Beacon a fee per person involved in the race. It would be possible, however, to include a $10-15 fee in the registration process, bringing the registration fee to close to $50. Malley said the fee is a preliminary figure and is not part of a formal measure.

The commission also discussed the policy for weddings held at the park.

The charge now to use park property as a wedding venue is $75. The popularity of using the park for weddings, Malley said, is ever increasing. In 2010, 30 weddings have been booked so far in the park, with attendance ranging from 40 to 150 people. Malley said between 25 and 30 weddings have been held a year since the town began charging wedding fees three years ago.

Commission Chairwoman Maureen McCarthy said it may make sense to increase the wedding fee, especially if a reception area is constructed, per McGovern’s recommendations.

McCarthy suggested speaking with South Portland officials to see how they handle wedding events at Bug Light.

Wilson, however, said the commission should be concerned about allowing too many events at the park.

“If the park begins to be event-centric, it is going to change the total character of the park, especially in the summer,” he said.

McGovern estimates that implementation of his recommendations could generate an additional $75,000, giving the town $120,000 a year from activities held at the park, or $600,000 in a five-year period, to use for capital needs.

McGovern also recommended the maintenance budget for Fort Williams Park be increased to $247,000, up $80,000. The increase, McGovern indicated, would raise the tax rate 5 cents per $1,000 of property value, or $15 annually to a taxpayer with a home valued at $300,000.

With that money, the town and commission could address the many maintenance and capital needs at the park, including tree maintenance and new plantings ($65,000); stonewall reconstruction ($100,000); improved pedestrian paths ($70,000); repairs to the property’s windows, roofs and doors ($100,000); improvements at the athletic fields and tennis courts ($50,000); improved playgrounds and play structures ($50,000); and repairs to the existing picnic shelter ($35,000).

Over the next five years, McGovern also recommended allocating $25,000 to update the park’s master plan, $75,000 for a new wedding/picnic space, $100,000 for work at the Goddard Mansion site, $100,000 to demolish the bleachers, $130,000 for perimeter fencing and gates, $50,000 for design work for a visitors center, $75,000 for invasive plant removal, with an additional $45,000 in miscellaneous costs.

McGovern will attend at the commission’s next meeting on Sept. 16, to further discuss sources of revenue and both capital and maintenance needs.

The Cape Elizabeth Town Council on Monday tabled a plan to charge buses and trolleys to come Fort Williams Park, home of the historic Portland Head Light, above. (File photo)

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