White’s Island could soon be open for the public to enjoy — although the only way to reach it will be by boat. Two wooden footbridges leading to the island are closed because they’re unsafe to cross.

The Maine Coast Heritage Trust purchased the island earlier this year and recently offered it to the town on the condition it be kept in its natural state and open to the public for daytime, low-impact recreational use. On June 20, selectmen put off signing a quitclaim deed for the transfer of the island’s ownership. The agreement includes a covenant reserving a conservation easement.

Selectmen were concerned with some of the language of the agreement that would permit access for commercial clamming and fishing. The proposal will be taken up again at the board’s July 12 meeting. The larger issue will be deciding what to do about the footbridges.

Last July, selectmen learned of MCHT’s interest in acquiring the island with the intention of giving it to the town with certain restrictions. MCHT is a non-profit group with several offices around the state. Its main office is in Topsham.

The island has a number of shade trees and is over an acre. It was part of the estate of the late William Phinney of High Street. MCHT finalized the purchase on Feb. 12 from Donna Burkhardt, Jodi Phinney and Tasha Phinney, heirs of the Phinney estate.

White’s Island is located a short distance west of the Wiscasset Yacht Club in Bradbury Cove. It has been privately owned for over 150 years, although for decades the town has maintained a right-of-way to and across it that includes a dirt causeway and the footbridges. The bridges were closed five years ago following concerns about their safety. A number of the support spans and pilings had rotted on the longer bridge, the one closest to Fore Street, warping sections of the walkway.

Reached for comment Monday morning, Judy Colby, selectmen’s chairman, agreed the footbridges would have to be addressed.

“They were closed back in 2011 because they weren’t safe to use and they’ve only deteriorated more since then,” she told the Wiscasset Newspaper. Colby was on the board when the decision was made to close the bridges.

According to documentation Colby provided, the selectmen’s decision was in response to an Oct. 5, 2011 legal opinion from Bernstein Shur of Portland. Selectmen boarded off access to the footbridge and posted a no trespassing sign. The action was taken to protect the town from liability until the bridges could be replaced or made safe for pedestrian use.

Colby recalled the town’s highway department did what it could to shore up the worst of the timber pilings in an effort to stabilize the longer bridge.

“The work they did wasn’t enough to reopen the bridges,” she said. “It was only to save what we could.”

Controversy over the bridges and public access to the island went on for several years. The documents include ongoing discussions between selectmen and William Phinney over whose responsibility it was for maintaining the footbridges. Phinney purchased the island from the Stetson family in 2002.  

In 2004, Oest Associates, Inc. of Gorham evaluated the bridges. Oest provided five options, including removal which was estimated at $75,232. Another included rehabilitating them by replacing pilings, adding new pile caps, rebuilding the abutments and replacing the railing for $219,320. The cost of replacing the bridges was estimated at $389,610 to $432,081.

Another problem with the longer bridge is erosion around its embankments. During extreme high tides, the bridge is completely surrounded by water.

Because the footbridges are separated by the railroad, the concern of pedestrians safely crossing the railroad tracks is another issue.

There’s only a brief reference to the footbridge within MCHT’s deed. Under the “Conservation Easement Land Use Restrictions” Section A. Item 4, “Structures,” it states, “the owner (town of Wiscasset) shall have the right to maintain and replace the existing pedestrian bridge with another bridge designed for pedestrian use…”

Both footbridges were built and maintained at the town’s expense. The last time they underwent any significant repairs was in 1992 when $13,700 was raised at town meeting to replace the railings and decking.

Selectmen haven’t discussed what to do about the footbridges. “We need to do so,” Colby said, admitting she has mixed feelings on the town taking possession of White’s Island.

“I think ultimately this needs to go before the townspeople for a vote,” she said. “We need to give people some idea what taking ownership of White’s Island might cost.”     

The island was last valued by the town at $26,700; property taxes when the island was privately owned were listed at $453.