OLD ORCHARD BEACH, Maine — The Conservation Commission is seeking funding to expand the Milliken MIlls Woods trail system.
The Milliken Mills Woods park is a public park on 70 acres of wooded area on Portland Avenue dissected by Mill Brook. In 1999, Janice Milliken Andrews donated 53 acres to the town to be used for a conservation area, and the town acquired the additional 17 acres from a failed subdivision.
The town’s Conservation Commission has created a trail system on the south side of the brook, and with help from local students, created educational signs that are installed along the trail. Parking for the park is available at 192 Portland Avenue, where the town’s former animal shelter was located.
The town would like to expand the trail system, and is seeking $49,900 in grant money from the Recreational Trails Program from the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry. If the town were to receive the grant, it would have to contribute in-kind work and $1,500.
The Town Council Tuesday night unanimously gave the town approval to move forward with the grant application.
Should the town receive the grant money, it plans to create 1.5 miles of trails north of the Mill Brook, with trail signs, educational kiosks and two pedestrian bridges over the stream, according to the grant application. It would also like to create a 10 space parking lot on Portland avenue and build five bat boxes. Members of the Conservation Commission plan to negotiate a right-of-way through private property allowing direct access from the nearby Eastern Trail to the Milliken Mills Woods property, according to the application.
For more information on Milliken Mills Woods, go to millikenmillstrails.weebly.com.