Corridor moratorium extended through early June
Special meeting on community bill of rights ordinance Dec. 7
By Stuart Hedstrom
Staff Writer
DOVER-FOXCROFT — At the June 2014 referendum, residents approved an ordinance concerning private distribution corridors, including paved highways, pipelines and high tension transmission lines. The moratorium enacted then — meaning permits for these types of development projects cannot be granted during the timeline — was in effect for 180 days. The moratorium has been extended two more times, and a third extension through June 2, 2016 was approved by the selectmen during a Nov. 23 meeting.
“This would be our third extension, I believe,” Town Manager Jack Clukey said. “We would extend from Dec. 5 for a 180-day period as we work on the comprehensive plan.”
Select Chair Elwood Edgerly wondered how many times the moratorium could be extended. “The key to renewing moratoriums is we are making progress toward the remedy of what’s causing the moratorium being put in place to begin with,” Clukey said.
“We will likely have to renew one more time,” Selectman Steve Grammont said. He said the comprehensive plan is scheduled to be voted on by the public on the November 2016 ballot.
The comprehensive planning committee met the previous Wednesday and had the economy and transportation as discussion topics. The next session is scheduled for Wednesday, Dec. 16 to cover natural resources and the results of an exit poll survey at the election on visioning/focusing on the future.
In other business, the selectmen scheduled a special meeting for Monday, Dec. 7 at 6 p.m. to meet with representatives of a committee involved with a community bill of rights ordinance. The document states that a community bill of rights for the residents of Dover-Foxcroft will be established to secure those rights by prohibiting corporations and governments from engaging in the acquisition of land for, or the siting of, private and public-private transportation and distribution corridors.
In September town officials had a meeting on a 300-plus signature petition concerning such an ordinance and a request for a secret ballot vote on the document. The selectmen opted not to place the ordinance on a warrant, but had indicated they were willing to meet again with the committee.
Committee member Dr. Lesley Fernow thanked the board for its work and asked that town officials consider a meeting. “The reality I think in all of this is democracy is really messy,” she said. Dr. Fernow said the committee is still determining how to meet the expectations of the 319 residents who signed the petition but then had their rights denied.
“We are still not sure what the solution is to that,” she said. “I don’t know if we have decided on an approach other than we really want to meet with the board.”
As the selectmen considered the meeting format, opting for a special session with the full board, they asked Dr. Fernow about the timeline before settling on Dec. 7 — two weeks before the lone regular December session on the 21st. “I think the timeline is important, there are options on the table but those options become more difficult as time passes,” she said.
The Dec. 7 meeting will feature a presentation by the committee, possibly with a 20-minute timeframe, and then discussion between the board and those involved with the community bill of rights ordinance and accompanying petition.
State Rep. Norm Higgins (R-Dover-Foxcroft) said he had three items to bring to the board. The first he said related to the town’s participation in a renewable energy pilot program for the dam by the Mill complex that was approved on the Nov. 3 ballot.
“I checked with the Public Utilities Commission last Wednesday and it’s in process,” Higgins said. “We will be hearing in three, four weeks maximum if that project’s approved.”
He said the decision is ultimately based on the application by the developer. “We certainly sent a clear message it’s important to restart the dam and support renewable energy in Dover-Foxcroft,” Higgins said, as the warrant article passed 473 to 141.
Higgins’s second topic concerned a recent meeting with Department of Corrections (DOC) officials in Charleston. “They transitioned the facility into an adult facility,” he said, with the youth inmates now being housed elsewhere.
The Charleston Correctional Facility now has 150-160 beds and a 19-bed assisted living center for elderly and infirm inmates, Higgins said. He said the DOC commissioner said the services the facility provides to the surrounding community, such as various construction projects, will continue and may even expand with a higher number of adult inmates.
Higgins said his third item to bring forward pertained to upcoming grant opportunities through the ConnectMe Authority. Higgins said he has been involved with increasing access to high-speed broadband Internet through his work in the Legislature and in early 2016 Maine communities should be able to apply funding related to this purpose.
“These will be planning grants, they won’t be for connecting or hooking anything up,” he said. “I would encourage you as a board to think about beginning that conversation.”
Higgins said grant funding, which could include a match from the recipient community, could enable the “hire of someone who really can take you through the whole spectrum of what your options are. I think we would be remiss as a community not to explore that.”
Clukey reported that lines were painted at the municipal parking lot next to the Congregational church and the Mill. He said a thank-you note was sent to the town by Rev. Chad Poland as a $250 donation from the church.
He said the condition of the parking area is not great. When the space is redone the work will likely involve more than just laying a new layer of asphalt but digging the site up and fixing the layers beneath the pavement that once was the foundation of a Foxcroft Academy building.