Sec. 1. 23 MRSA §3026, sub-§1, as enacted by PL 1981, c. 683, §1, is amended to read:

1. General procedures. A municipality may terminate in whole or in part any interests held by it for highway purposes. A municipality may discontinue a town way or public easement after the municipal officers have given best practicable notice to all abutting property owners and the municipal planning board or office and have filed an order of discontinuance with the municipal clerk that specifies the location of the way, the names of abutting property owners and the amount of damages, if any, determined by the municipal officers to be paid to each abutter.

Upon approval of the discontinuance order by the legislative body, and unless otherwise stated in the order, a public easement shall, in the case of town ways, be retained and all remaining interests of the municipality shall pass to the abutting property owners to the center of the way. A municipality may retain a public easement by including a statement in the discontinuance order that a public easement is retained. For purposes of this section, the words "public easement" shall include, without limitation, an easement for public utility facilities necessary to provide service.

Sec. 2. 23 MRSA §3101, as amended by PL 1999, c. 552, §1, is further amended by adding at the end a new paragraph to read:

An owner of a parcel of land directly benefited by a public easement has an appurtenant easement in a way or bridge for purposes of utilizing the process in this section to maintain that public easement.

SUMMARY

This bill allows a person who is directly benefited by a public easement to collect funds to maintain that easement and provides that a municipality may only retain a public easement in a discontinued road by stating in the discontinuance order that a public easement is retained.