Ledyard — A proposed 15-mile hiking and biking trail stretching through scenic southeastern Connecticut woodlands and countryside may have moved a bit closer to becoming a reality Friday.

Residents and officials from Ledyard, Preston and Groton discussed plans to move the trail proposal forward during a meeting in Gales Ferry. The draft of a joint resolution to establish an official Bluff Point/Preston Trail Committee was introduced, with each town's legislative body able to appoint up to three members.

State Rep. Tom Reynolds, D-Ledyard, said the purpose of the meeting was “to assess that there is adequate interest” in the project from all three towns, as well as sufficient funding and access to land for the trail.

“This is a long-term project, and there's no better start than today,” he said.

Because the trail would run through private lands controlled by Groton Utilities, Ledyard Councilor David Holdridge had proposed the idea to the utility in October.

Reynolds said the proposed trail would not work without the cooperation of the utility.

Town of Groton Mayor Harry Watson suggested that cooperation may be a problem. He said that, as early as 1992, the Groton Reservoir Access Committee met regularly with representatives from the utility to discuss plans for similar trails with no success.

A resolution for a 2-mile hiking trail along Route 117, which was accompanied by a $600,000 grant, was voted down several years ago. “Groton Utilities is resistant and has always been resistant to this,” he said.

Groton utility manager Al Dion, reached later by phone, said that Watson's assertion wasn't entirely correct. “We do embrace a certain amount of activity in the reservoir,” he said.

Private landowners along the route would also have to sign on to the plan.

According to the proposal, the trail would pass over Preston Community Park, the Clark Farm property and other town-owned and private land in Ledyard, the Groton Utilities land, the Copp property in Groton and Bluff Point State Park.

Ledyard councilors and Preston selectmen had previously endorsed the plan, as did Watson Friday morning. The Ledyard council unanimously passed a resolution in support of the trail, and the Preston Board of Selectmen wrote to Groton Utilities encouraging it to allow the trail to pass over its land.

Responsibilities of the trail committee would include developing cost estimates and sources of funding for the trail, also a concern for Ledyard Mayor Fred B. Allyn Jr. Because of current town budgetary concerns, “Financially, I hope it's not too much,” he said.

City of Groton Mayor Dennis L. Popp, who did not attend the meeting but was contacted afterward, added that along with the trail would come inevitable issues with financing and policing the area. He said the issues are “concerns that we've always had about access to the reservoir.”

The resolution also stipulated that the committee make interim reports on its work to towns.

Reynolds said one of the goals of the meeting was to get a mini-delegation to talk with Groton Utilities, a responsibility that could ostensibly fall to the Trail Committee.

The draft of the joint resolution proposed that a meeting be held within 30 days of the appointment of the committee's members by the towns.

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