Are Cumberland taxpayers aware of the project costs of the Payson property purchase beyond the initial $4.8 million ($3 million purchase plus $1.8 million interest cost)? What are the costs to establish the proposed infrastructure: 2,400 feet of road, a 40-car gravel parking lot, and moving the “bath house” and installing toilet facilities? What will be the annual cost to maintain the pier and float? Will this facility be open to everyone, not just taxpayers of Cumberland who are to foot the bills? How much tax revenue will be lost by transferring ownership of the 20 acres to the town, taking them off the tax rolls? How much will the tax rate have to be increased to support this project? Twin Brooks is a magnificent facility. Will the Payson property become as intensely used as that? If a conservation easement means nothing, why won’t the use gradually evolve into whatever some in the town wish it to be?

John McDonald
Cumberland