New bills would preserve state control over transportation development and eminent domain
By Chris Buchanan
Once again, our lawmakers will consider bills that may impact a private or public-private-partnership East-West Transportation, Communications, and Utilities Corridor:
LD 506, An Act to Improve Public-Private Transportation Partnerships sponsored by Rep. Ralph Chapman (D-Brooksville) and cosponsored by Sen. Paul Davis (R-Piscataquis) was scheduled to be heard by the Transportation Committee recently.
This bill does not change or restrict the Maine Department of Transportation’s ability to develop a PPP for transportation infrastructure, or prevent stakeholders from approaching the MDOT.
It simply ensures that all proposals to develop a PPP for transportation infrastructure over $25 million be solicited by the MDOT, and therefore be consistent with public need, state planning, and existing laws;
LR 373, An Act to Prohibit the Delegation of Eminent Domain Power to Private Entities sponsored by Sen. Davis (R-Piscataquis), has not yet been assigned a final bill number, or public hearing. LR 373 prevents eminent domain from being used by a private entity for transportation projects, or in certain Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) on behalf of a private entity, by amending the Public-Private-Partnership for Transportation Projects Law[3], and the law that restricts eminent domain use[4].
Over the past three years Stop the East-West Corridor has focused on developing resources, advocating for transparency, and supporting a statewide coalition of decentralized local resistance to the proposed East-West Corridor. We are all Maine residents working together to help support people with a variety of concerns, who are still unable to find answers to their questions from private or public officials.
Although Cianbro has been mostly quiet about its progress, Cianbro President and COO Andi Vigue voiced continued support and commitment to the Corridor in a WABI-TV 5 news broadcast on June 16, 2014, and Maine Magazine published a feature piece in the May 2014 issue with a photo of Cianbro CEO Peter Vigue in Wesley where the Corridor would “cross Route 9.” Like an inexplicable dark cloud on the horizon that never goes away, the Corridor proposal lingers.
In response, to develop a degree of protection from the Corridor, eight communities have drafted and passed some form of local ordinance, be it a moratorium, referendum, local-self governance, or land use ordinance. These communities include: Abbot, Charleston, Dexter, Dover-Foxcroft, Garland, Monson, Parkman and Sangerville.
In addition, local people of all political backgrounds have formed other groups, including a group of Grandmothers from Charleston who get together every fourth Friday to stand silently in front of Cianbro’s Pittsfield headquarters.
While it is remarkable that so many local residents are taking the initiative to protect themselves, it is telling how many people feel threatened and left vulnerable by Maine’s existing State laws. It’s time to close the door on unfounded proposals that waste taxpayers’ time, money, and resources the way the East-West Corridor is.
LD 506 and LR 373 improve public policy by providing tools to weed out needless transportation development in Maine that is not grounded in the State’s transportation planning, maintenance, and development process, without increasing regulations or stymying infrastructure that is desired by local people. The bills create an equal playing field, so all significant transportation proposals go through the same process. If they are good proposals, then they may be solicited by the MDOT. This is common sense.
For the full version of this article with a summary of facts about the East-West Corridor, for talking points, sample testimonies, and a guide to submit testimony for LD 506 and LR 373, or to view the studies that form the backbone of our position, visit www.stopthecorridor.org.
Chris Buchanan is the statewide coordinator of STEWC and Maine coordinator of Defending Water for Life, and lives in Belgrade.