Rail Trail committee rejects oversized Weston 300 markers, sends subgroup to renegotiate

WESTON -- July 20, 2020, Weston's Rail Trail Advisory Committee pushed back on oversized Weston 300 markers proposed for five new bench sites. Town facilities director Chris Fitzgerald presented a Weston 300 Bench Committee package calling for five-by-five-foot "legacy slabs" at Jericho, Gun Club Lane and the Duck Pond, plus five-foot pillars behind the existing pads at Concord Road and Church Street. Member Eric Sheffels said the markers were "grossly" out of proportion, "bigger than the benches really in square footage." Member Paul Penfield, who disclosed a conflict as the expected leader of successor nonprofit FLIRT, warned the pillars could end up "declaring the whole trail to be the 300 thing." Chair Gail Sullivan directed Sheffels, Meg Doherty and Ann Murphy to negotiate a scaled-down design with Weston 300's Dusty Rhodes and Jim Beans before any request goes to DCR. About $67,000 in unspent construction funds remains.