Portsmouth fencing out cars at special events field

Above: Workers from the town’s Department of Public Works (including Neal Belliveau, foreground) drill holes for fence posts at Glen Farm Tuesday. Photo by Jim McGaw.

PORTSMOUTH — Department of Public Works employees have been busy installing a wooden fence to prevent people from parking along the special events fields at Glen Farm.

“I don’t know how it’s going to go over, but people will eventually not be allowed to park there,” said Town Council member David Gleason.

The post-and-rail fence runs along the one-way exit road from Glen Farm that’s parallel to Linden Lane, which vehicles use to enter the property. The fence starts at the Brown House and runs west, eventually meeting East Main Road.

Drivers have traditionally parked alongside the road when using or viewing activities on the special events fields on the upper portion of the town-owned property. The parking ban, which will force drivers to park further down the farm or elsewhere, is needed to protect the trees, said Mr. Gleason.

An arborist first recommended the parking ban about 10 years ago, he said. People will still be able to sit under the trees if they wish, he added.

Council President Keith Hamilton agreed that something had to be done about the parking issue, especially near the top of Glen Farm. “If we can get that finished that would fantastic,” he said of the new fence at Monday’s council meeting.

Neal Belliveau, one of three DPW employees working on the fence Tuesday morning, guessed that the job will be complete by the middle of next week.

Normally, the town would go out to bid on such a project, but Acting Town Administrator James Lathrop told the council that DPW was agreeable to doing the job itself.

Phelps House repairs

In other news, Mr. Lathrop, who’s also the town’s director of finance and personnel, said a contractor was expected to start  work this Thursday, June 25, to fix the leaking roof and gutters on the Phelps House at Glen Farm. Last November the council voted to spend $49,500 for emergency repairs on the 1915 town-owned home.

The dilapidated, two-and-a-half-story Federal Revival-style home is located at the east end of Linden Lane. The town has mulled various uses for the home, including transforming it into a bed and breakfast.

The town has been working with the nonprofit historical preservation group Preserve Rhode Island to rehabilitate the building, and this initial investment is a good-faith effort to secure needed grants down the road.

The complete cost of the rehabilitation project is estimated at $400,000, with the town’s total share being anywhere from $100,000 to $166,000, depending on what grants are available, according to Preserve Rhode Island.