D-F voters to decide

Renewable energy, deputy officials ordinance, debt refinance

To the Editor:

On Tuesday, Nov. 3, Dover-Foxcroft voters will have a municipal ballot to consider in addition to the State and County ballots.

Article 2 pertains to the upgrade of the hydroelectric facility and the installation of rooftop solar panels at the former Moosehead Manufacturing site. Article 2 asks Dover-Foxcroft voters whether the Town supports the participation of these renewable energy projects in the State’s Community Based Renewable Energy Pilot Program.  This program was created by the Legislature to encourage investment in renewable energy projects throughout the State. Projects in this program are able to sell electricity to utility companies at an increased rate so that the projects can generate enough revenue to make these private investments in renewable energy feasible.

While these renewable energy investments are being made by the owners of the Mill Redevelopment Project, the Town is the owner of the hydro facility and as such, the PUC requires the Town’s legislative support in order to participate in this program.  Without the participation of the hydro and solar projects in this program, the completion of these projects is unlikely it would be a missed opportunity for securing this substantial private investment in our community.

Article 3 pertains to the ability of the Town to ensure that it can maintain continuity in services in the case of position vacancies or in transition periods.  While State statute speaks to the Town’s ability to make some deputy appointments, it does not cover all instances that might affect the Town’s ability to deliver services.

The “Ordinance to Clarify and Establish the Appointment of Deputy Municipal Officials” will allow the Town to appoint an existing employee as a deputy to a municipal official and have them sufficiently cross trained so that they can fulfill the duties of the position in the same manner that the primary official would do.  This type of assurance, especially in terms of a local construction project, would be very important in terms of keeping the project on track without delays which could add to the cost.

Finally, Article 4 seeks authorization for the town to refinance some existing wastewater debt.  The Town has been able to secure re-financing for wastewater debt twice over the past three years reducing some of the loan interest rates from over 3 percent and 4 percent to below 1 percent.  This has saved the Town several hundreds of thousands of dollars over the original terms of these loans.

The Town is now pursuing a similar type of refinancing on existing debt at an interest rate of 2.5 percent to a rate below 1 percent.  There have been some last-minute issues that have been raised in terms of the Town’s ability to proceed with this refinance however, authorization to continue to pursue this cost savings remains very valuable.

Your support on these items is critical to encourage investment in renewable energy projects, improved service delivery, and cost savings on our existing debt. I hope you will take the time to consider the importance of these items on the ballot and come to the polls and vote on November 3rd.

Jack Clukey, town manager

Dover-Foxcroft