LEBANON — City officials have postponed a decision on whether to discontinue four old public roads near Route 120 that a family of longtime farmers recently crossed with sap lines, closing off access to hikers and snowmobiles.
Lebanon’s City Council opted on Wednesday night to take no action on Barbara and Matthew Patch’s request to discontinue Barden Hill, Durkee, Atherton and McCallister roads, Class VI roads that date back to the 19th century.
Instead, councilors will wait until a surveyor finishes work to determine whether the roads, or portions of them, have already been discontinued and returned to the property owners.
Lebanon-based attorney Brad Atwood, representing the Patches, said there are decades of old town, county and state records to comb through. He said more answers should be available in a month’s time.
“We’re asking for some additional time for (the surveyor) to finish his work and then get back to you,” Atwood told the City Council. “I think it behooves us all to know what we are talking about here.”
The Patches, the owners of Patch Orchards, asked in January for the roads crisscrossing their 950-acre property to be discontinued so they could keep sap lines installed over the last two years.
The family, which traces its lineage in Lebanon to 1775, hope to have 50,000 taps on the land they purchased for $1.8 million nearly three years ago, and say removing existing lines could undo what’s amounted to a nearly $2.5 million investment in maple syrup operations.
However, the city maintains the old roads remain public and, like actively used roads, should be kept clear of obstructions.
Officials from Enfield also advised against discontinuing the roads, two of which link to Methodist Hill Road in that town.
Tim Camerato can be reached at tcamerato@vnews.com or 603-727-3223.