Corridor moratorium in place for D-F

By Stuart Hedstrom 
Staff Writer

    DOVER-FOXCROFT — During the town meeting referendum on June 10, residents approved an ordinance concerning a moratorium regarding private distribution corridors which includes paved highways, pipelines and high tension transmission lines. The article on the moratorium passed by a vote of 369 to 269.

    During a selectmen’s meeting on June 16 discussion centered on the moratorium and the work that will revise the comprehensive plan, with funding for these updates passed as part of the 2014-15 budget. When asked, select member Gail D’Agostino said a committee of community members will be looking to increase the number of participants in the conversations related to the proposed East-West Highway.
    “We need to review the comprehensive plan and there’s going to be a committee to do that work,” she said, adding how the East-West Highway and other potential projects fit into Dover-Foxcroft will be among the aspects of the plan under review.
    “It isn’t just the East-West Highway, it’s dealing with all development,” Select Chair Elwood Edgerly said about the  moratorium. Town Manager Jack Clukey said the moratorium is in place for six months, so permits for the development projects specified cannot be granted during the timeframe. He said the moratorium can be extended for an additional six months.
    Clukey said a consultant will be brought in for the comprehensive plan work, with requests for proposals being sent out in the near future. “I’m hoping late July/early August we can get those responses back and make a selection,” he said.
    “Every 10 years you have new census data and (the existing comprehensive plan) was written in 2005. You then go through a process and it was passed in 2007. There’s a not a lot in the comprehensive plan that discusses an East-West Highway.” Clukey said the town will have a chance to update its plan and then talk about potential ordinances that can be enacted.
    In other business, the selectmen approved a snow removal contract extension with Dean Rideout for three years through April, 2017. “Dean Rideout has the contract for portions of snowplowing out toward the Dexter Road,” Clukey said, with this route covering travel ways off the Dexter Road.
    “In talking with the public works department and the public works committee we feel we could bring about half of that in house, kind of optimizing the equipment we have in house and the people we have in house,” Clukey said.
    The proposal made was to reduce the mileage under contract from 25 to 12 miles with the dozen miles to be sanded by the contractor — in the past the town has gone over the plowed roads with its sander. First-year pricing would be the same as for the last year at about $2,436 per mile for plowing and would include another $1,000 per mile for sanding. In the ensuing two years the price per mile would increase 6 percent per year with the sanding staying at $1,000 a mile.
    “We have been very pleased with the work Dean Rideout has done for us,” Clukey said. He mentioned the contract was extended now to enable Rideout ample time to prepare for the next season.
    Select Vice Chair Cindy Freeman Cyr asked about savings with the new contract. “We feel there will be a net savings, we are hoping to see $20,000-$25,000 net savings,” Clukey responded.
    D’Agostino said she has been asked several times about the Riverfront Redevelopment project.
    “A year ago we were talking to be substantially complete by the end of 2014, that’s not the case now,” Clukey said. He explained right now work is being done on the exterior of the former Moosehead Manufacturing facility and construction will be done on the interior during 2015.
    “It’s getting all the pieces together, the various funding sources the developer uses,” Clukey said about the change in schedule. “There is a just a lot of attention to detail that you wouldn’t find with other projects,” he added, such as components needed to meet historic tax credit guidelines.
    In his town manager’s report, Clukey said the board of directors of the Pine Crest Business Park is considering whether a data center planned for the Riverfront Redevelopment property could be housed in the Morton Avenue Municipal Building on a temporary basis until the project is ready. Pine Crest has received funding through the USDA for the data center, as the Riverfront Redevelopment building is connected to the three-ring binder infrastructure for high-speed data services.
    “The balloon festival, all in all, I think was a big success,” Clukey said. “Moving the festival over to the fairgrounds I think was a huge help, people were able to get there and park. We know we had under 4,000 people, probably 3,700 to 3,800 through the gate.”