ENFIELD — The Selectboard voiced its approval this week for a plan to use about an acre of town-owned land on Lake Mascoma at the end of Johnston Drive for a recreation area.

The plan, which was proposed by the Johnston Property Use Committee, also calls for putting in a small accessible parking lot, reinforcing Johnston Drive with gravel and making sure the property’s two small former seasonal dwellings now in disrepair will be secured as the town decides their fate.

Primary access to the site would be from the Northern Rail Trail, which is mainly used by people on bike or foot. It could also be reached from the lake itself by boats such as kayaks and canoes.

The proposal had support from Johnston Drive resident Barbara Jones, who was present at Monday night’s meeting.

“I totally support the recommendation. I thought the committee did a fantastic job,” said Jones, who has previously voiced concerns about how the town planned to use the property. “I don’t have any complaints about that whatsoever.”

The Selectboard’s decision came after close to two years of discussion about the roughly 1.5-acre property, which includes four separate parcels near the Lebanon town line off Route 4 on Johnston Drive.

In December 2022, town officials formed a committee of residents to consider and propose different ideas for the property. Last June, the committee submitted its report which called for preserving the majority of land for a recreation area that would be “pack in, pack out” with no portable toilets or trash receptacles. Since then, it has been under legal review. After getting the go-ahead from the town’s legal counsel earlier this month, the Selectboard moved forward with the majority of the plans.

“We have a committee that’s worked very hard,” Selectboard member John Kluge said during Monday’s meeting. “They presented I think a very balanced plan, and I think this is the way to go.”

Town Manager Ed Morris said work on the recreation area — including putting in gravel — would likely begin this spring. The planned accessible parking lot would have space for two to three vehicles, he said, adding that work on the property would “be really minimal.” There are also plans to put up better signs at the site to explain to the public how it should be used.

The town plans to sell two other smaller parcels of town-owned land off Johnston Drive, which bookend the two lots that the town plans on using as a recreation area. One will be sold after a lifetime lease on the property expires, and the other 0.09 acres is expected to go on the market this spring, Morris said.

“There’s no road access to that property,” Morris said during a Wednesday phone interview about the property that’s expected to go up for sale this spring. “It would just be a little waterfront piece for people.”

The committee also recommended that two structures on the property be demolished, but the Selectboard decided to take a “wait and see” approach about how the property is used before investing more money into it.

“My recommendation would be that we overly secure the buildings that are down there now,” Morris said during the meeting, adding that he’s spoken to Enfield Police Chief Roy Holland about monitoring the buildings.

Johnston Drive resident Barbara Ruel urged the town to take the buildings down.

“I feel like its a public hazard, personally,” she said during the meeting.

The Selectboard also said they’d do an annual review of the property during which members of the public can weigh in about its use.

“I would like to see us really be cognizant of the message we got from Town Meeting about budgeting,” Selectboard member Kate Plumley Stewart said during the meeting, referencing residents’ concerns about increases in town spending. “So do the locking, do the gravel and the basics and then … develop what you have for ideas and put it through the budget process.”

Liz Sauchelli can be reached at esauchelli@vnews.com or 603-727-3221.