7 months ago
CAPE ELIZABETH, Maine (NEWS CENTER) -- Visitors may soon have to pay for the million dollar views at Fort Willams Park in Cape Elizabeth. To bridge an increasing budget gap, the Cape Elizabeth town council is asking residents to consider charging parking fees to use the park. The council held a workshop last month to listen to public comments and question. And Monday night it voted 5 to 2 to put the issue up for a vote in June. The Fort Williams Advisory Commission studied the park, and is suggesting the implementation of a $10 annual parking pass fee for Cape Elizabeth residents and a $20 fee for non-residents. Town officials say it costs about $250,000 to run the park every year. The cash raised from fees is expected to be $300,000. Four years ago, the town said no to parking fees. Since then, town and school budgets have taken a hit. Cape schools stand to lose nearly $2 million. The town manager says the money that comes in will be put right back into the park, giving Cape Elizabeth the money to run the day to day operation and make some improvements to Fort Williams.
NEWS CENTER
