Pine Tree Engineering of Bath will assist Woolwich with an application seeking state funding to continue Americans with Disabilities Act and other improvements at Nequasset Park. If the Bureau of Park and Lands agrees to fund the project, work would start next year.

“We applied again this year but our application was denied,” Selectman Jason Shaw told Robert Prue of Pine Tree Engineering. Selectmen, Nequasset Park Committee members and the road commissioner met with Prue Monday evening.

“They said we could reapply again next year and advised us we needed to update some of our cost estimates,” Shaw continued. “They emphasized that we adhere to all of the ADA improvements put forth in the original application.” The town planned to do the project in phases. The initial work started in 2018. Joan Jordan and Sue Ellen Whittaker of the park committee hope grant monies can add a wheelchair ramp and ADA floats in the swimming area.

Referring to the park plan, Prue said the ADA ramp leading into the swimming area would be six feet wide. Two 6-by-16-foot floats are also planned. Railing may be required around the floats. “We want it to be safe and ADA compliant,” said Selectmen’s Chairman David King Sr. “Our hope is that the floats will get people swimming further away from the boat launching area.”

Shaw said the town plans to apply early next year. The biggest expense is to buy and install the floats.

The park is behind the municipal building and includes a swimming area, boat launch and picnic tables. In 2018, parking spaces for people with disabilities were moved closer to the water and paved ADA paths were added leading to the swimming area. The town spent $13,054 of a $15,000 grant and was reimbursed $10,066 from the state, including $2,601 to develop an engineering plan. “The people in Augusta have told us in order to move forward we need to finish what we initially started in the original plan, but to move forward we need hard figures what these improvements will cost,” King told Wiscasset Newspaper.

“The state is holding all the cards on this so we have to play by their rules. They’re the ones funding this,” King said.

The board promised to review the application with Jordan and Whittaker before submitting it.