BY KEVIN SHALVEY

While many residents may be looking forward to going ice skating and meeting friends at the new village common, some abutters are concerned about how it will affect their properties.

Members of the Bedford Village Common Committee presented to the Planning Board a site plan for the western side of the common, for which the town budgeted $52,000 this year.

At the Monday, June 4, meeting, the board viewed plans that include a seasonal skating pond, 6-foot-wide handicapped-accessible paths, a parking lot and a future one-story skate house.

The plan also includes a three-tier white fence that will run along the edge of Route 101.

Councilor Michael Scanlon said it is still undecided whether the fence will be wood or vinyl, until the Historic District Commission rules on it.

“The idea is that the vinyl fence is going to be easier to maintain,” Scanlon said.

At the meeting, members of the public questioned the safety and parking situation for the common.

Abutter Elaine Tefft, of 7 Meetinghouse Road, said moving soil could release prior contaminants into the air.

Town Council Chairman Paul Roy brought up the same concerns during the presentation.

“By dredging the skating pond, you could be disturbing some contaminants that are underground today,” he said.

Roy also said contaminants could be transferred to skaters through the ice.

Tefft also said the dredged pond will be a “perfect mosquito breeding ground” that might increase the risk of eastern equine encephalitis for the town.

Bob Cadwallader, of 11 Bell Hill Road, another abutter, asked if there could be a problem on his road caused by parents picking up their children without using a parking lot.

Board member Deb Sklar asked if a “no parking” sign could be put up there. Scanlon said the small pull-in spot off Bell Hill Road was a recommendation from the Fire Department for emergency service use only.

Scanlon said the town can only ask that people park at the existing Butler property and walk to the town common. The town-owned land know as the Butler property is located next to the library and will become part of the town common park.

But Cadwaller has reservations.

“Human nature is that they’ll take the shortest path, we all know that,” Cadwallader said.

By the end of July, the proposal should have the necessary conservation and drainage easements from the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services and will then be presented to the Town Council, Scanlon said.

Town Manager Russ Marcoux asked what the skating pond would be used for during the three months that it isn’t frozen.

“I think the plans for the other three seasons are just to have a natural body of water,” Scanlon said.

TF Moran engineering firm is working with the committee to design the park, and the land will be controlled by the Bedford Land Trust.