I have serious doubts, however, about the proposals presented in the report of the Gray Village Master Plan Advisory Committee. A goal that is repeated in the Report, is "Reclaim the Village as a lively hub for residents, visitors, workers, and shoppers who can safely get around by foot, bicycle, and vehicle." This is a happy talk fantasy and it is put forward without any justification to show that it is desired by more than a few particular individuals. There is not any discussion of where these many happy people are going to come from. There is not any discussion of how many people are wanting to get around by foot or by bicycle. There is not any discussion of how this will attract new businesses to the Village.

Some Members of the Gray Village Master Plan Advisory Committee apparently believe that it would be desirable to have the Village Center populated with establishments of the Arts and the Crafts type. There is not any discussion of why this would be beneficial. Some Members of the Committee apparently believe that it would be desirable to have a "nice" restaurant in the Village Center. Some of them may be too recent newcomers to remember that there used to be a restaurant where the Rite Aid is now located.

A grand scheme is proposed to disrupt traffic flow to benefit those undefined or non-existing pedestrians. There are plans to reduce the widths of travel ways by adding islands and sidewalks. There are plans to interfere with the smooth flow of traffic by adding cross walks with push buttons so that pedestrians can halt traffic for their convenience. There is not any discussion to support why this is desirable. It is simply assumed that everyone agrees with the desires of the Members of the Committee.

It is proposed to work with Maine DOT and property owners to relocate the end of Center Road further South of Route 202. That is, it is proposed to close off Center Road at its present junction with Route 202 (115) and consider routing egress to Route 100 (26) at the Post Office access on Turnpike Acres Road or the Maine DOT Maintenance Facility right of way (no cost estimate is given for this scheme). There is not any discussion to support why this is desirable. I would personally object strenuously to this plan. If I want to go into the Village around 5:00 PM on a weekday, I go by way of Center Road to avoid the daily backup of traffic on Route 100. This unwise proposal would add all inbound traffic on Center Road to the backup.

It is proposed to expend at least $ 429,400 to build new sidewalks. There is not any serious discussion to support why this is desirable. Sidewalks are not a one time expense; there are continuing costs for general maintenance and the costs of clearing snow and ice in the Winter. There is not any discussion of who would use most of these new sidewalks.

There is a proposal to adopt a Historic Preservation Ordinance to regulate demolition and conversions of existing historic buildings for commercial use. In my opinion, there is not any reason to preserve any of the old buildings in the Village Center District except for the Pennell Institute buildings which have great sentimental value for former students. If there is a real desire to revitalize the historic village center, then investors should be encouraged to buy and demolish the old buildings and redevelop the properties with truly functional replacements that include provisions for adequate off street parking.

have had the privilege of living within several villages from time to time, including Gray Village about seventy years ago. Villages typically have one main thoroughfare and some lightly used side streets. This is not the condition of the historic center of Gray Village which is the intersection of five major ways. The new by-pass will reduce traffic on Shaker Road (Route 26), but it will not have any effect upon the traffic through the Village due to the other roads and that traffic will only increase with time. The historic center of Gray Village is a major intersection; its days as a village have long passed.

It is proposed to eliminate gasoline stations in the Village Center because they are considered by the Members of the Committee to be undesirable. There is not any discussion of why this would be beneficial or where the funds would come from to compensate the present owners of these properties.

The Members of the Committee would like to make the Village Center be a "destination" with "Gateways" on the various roads leading into the Village. There are several destinations in Gray. Cole Farms Restaurant is a year round destination; people come there from considerable distances. The Wildlife Park and Spring Meadows Golf Course are daily destinations in warmer weather; the lakes are also destinations in warmer weather and to some extent for ice activities. The athletic facilities associated with the High School are occasional destinations for special events. The only destination in the Village Center that I know of has been the Celebration Days events that we have had in the recent past; that is a once per year event.

Over a period of more than fifty years, I have read a lot of reports, I have written a lot of reports, and during my time as an engineering professor, I taught a lot of students how to write reports. The Gray Village Master Plan report is poorly organized, it is filled with happy talk and fantasy, it has tables of data and pretty charts that are mostly not related to the Village, and it presents conclusions and recommendations that are not supported with factual information. I do not fault the Members of the Committee because they are volunteers and may not have any knowledge and experience related to writing good reports. A grant of $ 10,000 was dissipated in this effort. I did not find any statement of how the funds were spent, but I suspect a substantial portion was paid to the people at the Greater Portland Council Of Governments (GPCOG). Those people at GPCOG are supposed to be professionals and it is reasonable to expect that at least some of them will have the mature knowledge and experience that is needed to produce good reports.

The citizens of Gray need to be aware that there are plans to expend large amounts of public money (that is, taxpayer's money) on ill conceived and poorly planned schemes that will seriously disrupt traffic flow within, and associated with, the major intersection that is the historic center of Gray Village.