Clearing up misinformation

Regarding proposed car wash

To the Editor:

I normally would shy away from writing a letter to the editor of a paper, but with the amount of misinformation in a previous letter you received, I felt it necessary to respond with the actual facts surrounding the car wash project at Rowell’s Garage on E. Main Street.

In last week’s paper, Nikki Page of River Street sent in a letter full of misinformation about our project.  Though she definitely has a right to share her concerns, I also have a right to correct the inaccurate information she shared.

The first point of her letter was regarding  the tree line on the River Street side of Rowell’s property. The location of the hookup to town water and sewer was recommended by the town, and an unknown amount of vegetation will need to be removed to follow the town’s recommendation.  Neither Rowell’s or the town of Dover Foxcroft wishes to remove more trees than necessary.

As she stated in her letter, we agreed to put up a fence and replant vegetation to replace what would need to be removed.    The replanting of vegetation was decided on by Rowell’s, prior to the Planning Board meeting, to add to the curb appeal of the project. We want this completed project to look great when it’s done, and not be offensive to anyone.

Her next point of contention was whether patrons would drive up to the car wash with radios blaring.   Honestly, I cannot answer that question.   I would assume though, that a car wash would not encourage louder-than-normal radio volume.

“Will they vacuum on the way home from third shift?” was her next question, though she already knew  the proposed hours were from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., as it was discussed at length at the planning board meeting. The application to the planning board did originally state hours from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., but that was an error on the part of the engineering firm.   Either way, the answer to her question is that no one would be able to vacuum their cars before 7 a.m., or after 9 p.m., should we install them at all. Because we have not received confirmation that the vacuums would meet town ordinance noise restrictions, we have decided not to install vacuums at this time, but we will have the provisions in place to do it at a later date if the noise requirements are met to our satisfaction.

Nikki also asked:  “will lights disturb my sleep at night?”   There is currently lighting on the barn that will be torn down, and also in the library parking lot, and along side the Webber Hardware property.   The proposed lighting on the car wash will be building-mounted, down cast,  full cut-off shielded lighting for the safety and security of the site and of course, it’s patrons.   Whether the lights will or will not disturb her sleep, I do not know, however  the lights are designed to shine downward to prevent any night sky light pollution.

The next question that she asks is about the location of the new building on the lot.  She would like the building closer to Route 15.   There are a multitude of reasons for the decided placement of the building.  Much time and thought was put into the design of this project.   After meeting with engineers, architects and car wash manufacturers,  the proposed location was one everyone could agree upon,  and the one that made the most sense.   One of our greatest motivations for setting the building opposite the 15 side  is to get waiting customers well off the road, away from oncoming traffic  and safely onto our property.

Snow removal in this part of the country is always an issue when designing any project.  This was a huge consideration, as we sought a design that would allow us  to plow the yard and the right of way for the library, as we usually plow that as well.   We also took into consideration the possibility of water dripping onto the pavement and freezing in the winter.  If the building is placed on the Main St. side, there would be a greater risk of water freezing at the exit to the roadway. Placing the wash at the back of the lot means freezing water from the carwash would not be a concern, increasing  the overall safety of our patrons.

Changing the direction of the building would have no impact on the noise levels from the wash. It would make no sense to have the exit of the building facing the main entrance to the lot.   Our goal is to make it as simple and safe as possible for our customer to use the wash.   From a common sense point of view, Rowell’s also wants as  little traffic disruption as possible during the project.  As  Nikki stated,  there is much less traffic on River Street than there is on RT 15. Construction crews working at the back end of the lot would mean less disruption to the traffic on RT 15.

She says all of these things were designed this way only to save money.   That is simply not true. The design of the proposed car  wash was thoughtfully laid out using the above mentioned criteria. In the same paragraph she mentions that “a car wash smack dab in the middle of that parking lot will look less than desireable.”  We feel that we have taken all the necessary steps to ensure that the wash is as visually pleasing as possible while maintaining functionality, efficiency and safety.

The last point I wanted to address was her claim that we wanted to save money so badly that we “endangered unskilled workers”  to try and take the building down.    The building removal was bid on by several contractors.   The job was awarded to a contractor who was responsible for the safety of his workers.   When I was made aware that he lacked the proper insurance, which was clearly outlined as a requirement in our contract, I asked him to leave the site. I feel it is important to mention this because Rowell’s takes the safety of our employees and our customers very seriously.

Rowell’s Garage prides itself on being a very considerate and caring corporate citizen.   We try to do as much as possible to help the Dover Foxcroft area through fundraisers and donations to the many schools,  sports teams, non profits, and other groups. When we lost our GMC franchise we were overwhelmed with the support we got from the community, and we try to give back as much as we can.   We are simply trying to grow our business by providing a much needed service to the area.

I too, would like to encourage as many citizens as possible to attend the Appeals Board meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 16 at 6:30 p.m. at the Dover Foxcroft town office.   Your support would be much appreciated.  

Scott Moulton

General Manager

Rowell’s Garage