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 Local news and information from Castine and Penobscot, Maine. |
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News Feature
by Sharon Bray At their meeting Tuesday, January 17, selectmen voted 2-1 to hold a special town meeting Monday, February 6. Chairman Gus Basile disagreed with Peter Vogell and David Unger saying, “I think we are jumping the gun.” He advocated waiting until the regular budget town meeting in May. The special town meeting will deal with the Comprehensive Plan Implementation Committee proposal to hire a part-time economic development consultant as soon as possible. In her report on CPIC progress, Chairman Sue Macdonald said members of the economic development subcommittee see a need to hire “someone with the necessary expertise” to help continue its work. Macdonald gave selectmen a petition with 89 citizen signatures in support of hiring the help as soon as possible. Much discussion centered on the difference between a consultant and an employee of the town. The petition refers to a “position,” which Basile interpreted as a town employee. Although Macdonald tried to withdraw the petition, Town Manager Dale Abernethy said once it was presented to selectmen, the board was bound by law to act on it at the next regular or special town meeting. The CPIC proposed to pay $30 per hour for 16 hours a week, coming to $30,000 a year. According to CPIC member Scott Vogell, voters would be asked to approve spending $9,600 between February and the end of the town’s fiscal year June 30. Basile suggested that the four months between now and May would not make that much difference. “Every day we wait is not good for the economic development of the business district,” CPIC member Scott Vogell said. At a meeting Wednesday morning immediately following the monthly town-gown meeting with Maine Maritime Academy officers, selectmen approved a warrant for the special town meeting to be held at 4 p.m. February 6, followed by a regular meeting of the selectmen. Town Clerk Susan Macomber said Wednesday that Macdonald plans to address the special town meeting with a call to defeat the warrant item based on the language in the petition but to support hiring the consultant. The warrant signed by selectmen calls for a written ballot on the proposal “to fund a part-time Economic Development consultant through June 30, 2012.” In a further update of CPIC progress, Jack Macdonald reported on the work of the housing subcommittee. Charged with finding ways to “increase access to affordable housing” and to “increase diversity of Castine population,” Macdonald with David Wyman, Gil Tenney and Jimmy Goodson concluded that cluster housing could provide “more affordable housing” for the town’s “workforce.” Several of them visited developments on Mount Desert Island and reported that clusters could work with adequate planning and regulation. Such a development in Castine would require “donated or under-market land,” Macdonald said. He also talked about advantages of building a model “condo community” to keep Castine’s elderly population in town. In other business, selectmen signed an agreement to allow the Farmers’ Market to use the town common for its third season. They voted unanimously to uphold a parking ticket, rejecting an appeal. Abernethy said the vehicle had been parked between “no parking here to corner” and “no parking” signs on Main Street. The owner based his appeal on seeing other vehicles nearby without tickets, but Parking Officer Jim Stone had provided proof of tickets on some of those vehicles. Chairman of the Historic Preservation Commission Ann Miller asked selectmen to support the commission effort to expand the town’s historic district to include the entire “on neck” portion of the town. Quoting from national and state authorities on the significance of Castine’s history and buildings, Miller said, “It is time to bring the town into conformity with lines drawn by the National Register [of Historic Places] 40 years ago.” Selectmen scheduled next month’s meetings for Monday, February 6 (with special town meeting) and Tuesday, February 21. |
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