FREEPORT – The hand-wringing in Freeport about the fate of the Hunter and Pownal roads recreation fields continues as the Freeport Town Council learned Feb. 5 that the costs of a state-mandated environmental permitting process could reach $100,000.

The town is facing a decision to either pay for improvements or divest itself of the property, used primarily for athletic events, to avoid further costs.

A state review of the site was triggered after the council rejected a proposed project from Seacoast United Maine to create an indoor soccer facility. The soccer club had sought to acquire land from the town between the Pownal and Hunter road fields to create a complex with both outdoor and indoor soccer fields. However, public sentiment was strongly against the indoor soccer facility, leading the council to reject the proposal. The state requires a Department of Environmental Protection permit for projects that exceed 20 acres in size. The Hunter Road facility is 19.98 acres as it has been developed.

When the town decided to hold onto the land, it meant that the state considered the Pownal and Hunter road sites as one, which pushed the size above 20 acres and triggered the state review. If the Seacoast project had gone through as planned, a state permit would have still been required, but it would have been paid for by Seacoast United.

The town was given two choices by the state: either submit to state review, or divest itself of a portion of the land, bringing the project back under the 20-acre threshold.

Al Presgraves, town engineer, told councilors at the Feb. 5 meeting that a minimum of $59,000 would be required to make needed storm-water improvements for a Department of Environmental Protection after-the-fact permit. If the town chose to pursue improvements such as a larger parking area, the cost could reach as high as $120,000. The $59,000 would bring the fields into full compliance, Presgraves said. The state had requested a decision in January, but the deadline had passed.

“The DEP understands the fiscal restaints municipalities are under,” said environmental consultant Al Palmer, of Gorril-Palmer Consulting Engineers, who has worked with Presgraves on the permitting process. “We are trying to come up with a timeframe that would be acceptable to them until we submit the application.”

The council has explored a number of scenarios for the property, including transferring ownership to Regional School Unit 5 with the stipulation that the fields be transferred back to the town if the school district disbanded. But at a meeting on July 10, councilors voted 6-1 against the proposed transfer, instead electing to hold onto the property for future town use.

With a $16.9 million expansion of Freeport High School to be decided by a June vote, some councilors balked at absorbing any additional costs to the taxpayers.

“I have to be mindful of the taxpayers in my district,” said Councilor Andy Wellen. “There could be a lot to pay for this year.”

The council decided to open the discussion up to the public during a Feb. 12 workshop, after the Tri-Town Weekly’s deadline. Councilors are expected to take action on the property at a meeting on Feb. 19.

The Hunter and Pownal roads soccer fields on a recent afternoon. Freeport is faced with a decision to either pay for improvements or divest itself of the property.