DRAFT-- MINUTES ARE NOT OFFICIAL UNTIL APPROVED BY THE TOWN COUNCIL--DRAFT
MINUTES
TOWN COUNCIL MEETING
STANDISH, MAINE
TUESDAY, AUGUST 9, 2005 – MUNICIPAL CENTER 7:00 PM
CALL TO ORDER
The meeting was called to order and the Pledge of Allegiance was recited
ROLL CALL
Councilors present: Christy, Hopkins, Lymburner, Pomerleau, Simpson and Spencer.
MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING (S)
The minutes from the July 12th meeting were accepted as presented.
PETITIONS AND COMMUNICATIONS
REPORT OF THE TOWN MANAGER
Managers update
Mr. Billington said that as many of you know the Kiwanis Beach was posted briefly this last week with a warning to swimmers regarding elevated levels of bacteria. The elevated levels were detected from water tests taken by the state after complaints from some swimmers of stomach distress. The Kiwanis were quick to react and conducted private testing of the water. The test results showed the water cleared up in time for the week end activities. The Kiwanis advise they will continue to test weekly throughout the summer.
Mr. Billington noted that he recently met with the President of St. Joseph’s College, Dr. David House. The College is offering a donation to the Town of Standish from this year’s College budget of $10,000. That donation would be applied towards the future replacement costs for our Engine #4. Engine #4 is housed at the North Gorham Station and primarily serves the Whites Bridge section of Town.
Mr. Billington announced to the public that the Council is accepting applications for vacant seats on both the Appeals Board and on the Town Council. I would encourage anyone interested in serving the Town to contact Mary at 642-4678 for an application.
Mr. Billington explained that the Town has sent notification letters to all the property owners who abut the rangeways surrounding the Standish Village area. The letter advises of the upcoming public hearing for acceptance of the proposed public easements associated with those rangeways. There have been quite a few property owners who have visited the Town Hall as a result to view the map and survey results from Sebago Technics. The public hearing will be in two weeks to be held at 7 Pm on Tuesday the 23rd of August.
Mr. Billington went on to say that Time Warner is in the process of acquiring Adelphia. There have been several meetings throughout the state recently to discuss the impact of that acquisition on municipalities. Under our present Adelphia franchise we have benefits which are not found in other cable franchises such as the senior’s discount, the requirement to provide cable and broadband access to all residents within 300 feet of any public way, an accounting of all trouble calls, etc. In addition, the Town receives franchise and capital fees to support local public access television to include the televising of this evening’s meeting. This coming week there will be a meeting at the Bar Mills SRCTV studio for elected officials of the SRCTV towns to discuss the choice of extending our current contract as it is with Time Warner
committed to the terms or of renegotiating the contract. We assume renegotiations would be with Time Warner. We have until December to make the decision. Also it is important to note that there are three bills that have been introduced in Congress that could do away with franchise fees altogether under the guise of creating an incentive to expand broadband coverage into the rural areas. If passed, that initiative could have a negative impact on our revenue and our ability to provide public access television.
Department Head presentations will resume in the fall. This evening we are privileged to hear from Dr. McNeil on activities of the Saco River Corridor Commission.
Dr. McNeil said that a lot of people are not aware of the existence or the activities of the Committee. He said that the Committee is a by-product of the Saco Rover Corridor Act which was enacted by the legislature in the early 70’s. The purpose was to protect the Saco River Corridor and the land around the Ossipee and Little Ossipee Rivers. He noted that the legislature had the foresight back then to see that there would be developmental pressures in this part of the state. They recognized that this was a valuable natural resource. He explained that the Act contains language that serves as standards for the ‘Planning Board’ like activities that the Commission does. He noted that in an average year the Commission hears between 120 – 150 applications for one form of
development or another. He explained that the corridor is roughly 500 feet away from the high water line of the Saco, Ossipee and Little Ossipee Rivers with the exception of some flood plain areas. He said that there is a fair bit of pressure especially the Waterboro area where Lake Arrow Head Estates are. He noted that there is a growing number of applications from all towns. Each town that lines that corridor is entitled to a representative and an alternate. He went on to say that the other activity that may be of interest to the Council is that the Commission has taken on a water monitoring mission with four monitoring sites on the Saco River within the Town of Standish. The data is available on the Corridor Commission’s web site. He said that in a nut shell is what we do. He noted that the river is increasingly popular as a recreational resource. He went on to say that back in the 80’s a survey was conducted and
determined that this was the most heavily used river in the northeast. It was established that over 100,000 visits were recorded. He said that this also adds pressure on the river.
Councilor Christy asked about the workshops that the Commission holds.
Dr. McNeil said that the workshops are open to the public and are held on the third Wednesday each month.
Councilor Lymburner asked what the water testing showing was. Is the river still maintaining the high quality?
D. McNeil said that it is doing pretty good. He noted that there have been periodic concerns particularly in the summertime. There have been hot spots with chloroform as Mr. Billington had mentioned in Watchic. He said that occasionally a point source is identified and it has been resolved.
Councilor Lymburner asked if any of those were in Standish.
Dr. McNeil said that at one point there was a problem downstream from the Limington riff, but that was cleared up.
Councilor Lymburner said that you spoke of the recreational use of the river, does the Saco River Corridor Commission have over-sight of the use of the river.
Dr. McNeil said that is the use involves a permanent structure, development or a campground, yes it would. But, the Commission does not have policing authority. He went on to note that in certain areas where there is heavy use there has been issue as to who will police the area. He said the Warden Service is over burdened; the Sheriff and State Police really don’t want to own it. In most cases the abutting property owners clean up trash left behind. He said that the Standish section of the river is relative lightly used compared to other areas.
Councilor Lymburner asked about the regular meetings.
Dr. McNeil said that they are held at the Porter Town Hall on the third Wednesday starting at 7:30 pm until the agenda is completed.
Chair Hopkins asked if there were any questions of the manager.
Councilor Christy asked how long had there been a senior discount through Adelphia. What’s the procedure in obtaining the discount?
Mr. Billington said that through the franchise that Adelphia is required to put it on the bill. That has been overlooked from time to time. He said that if you call customer service they may not be familiar with the program. If you have problems get in touch with Mike Edgecomb.
Councilor Lymburner questioned if the Appeal Board membership was by district designation.
The Clerk said that they were at large seats.
PUBLIC HEARINGS
76-05 Amendment to Standish Town Code, Chapter 181, Land Use, § 181-17 Signs [Spencer]
Moved by Lymburner Seconded by Christy to dispense with the Clerk’s reading of the ordinance. (Unanimous)
Councilor Spencer said that he was not at the meeting last month but understands that there was lengthily discussion on the issue. He noted that this is about the official directional signs and has been before us Last month there was a change in section one that deleted the following:
(1) Directional signs shall be located within 1000 feet of the intersection where a change in direction is required. , and there shall be no more than 3 signs per post assembly, with only one post assembly per intersection approach.
After a Public Hearing without additional Council or public discussion the above titled ordinance amendment was approved effective immediately and the hearing was closed.
VOTE: 5 Yeas – 1 Nay, Simpson
118-05 Application Submitted by Erika L. Walker for a New Massage Therapist License for Employment at A Head Above, Inc. Located at 30 Northeast Road [Hopkins]
The Clerk noted that the only the approval of the Town Manager was needed on this application.
After a Public Hearing without additional Council or public discussion the above titled application was approved effective immediately and the hearing was closed.
VOTE: 6 Yeas – 0 Nays
COMMITTEE REPORTS
Councilor Christy noted the public hearing on August 23 regarding rangeways.
Councilor Lymburner announced that the Health and Safety Fair will be held in conjunction with Fire/EMS Open House on October 15th. The theme will be home health and safety.
Chair Hopkins said that the Senior Housing Committee is focused on the presentation to the Council at the workshop in August.
CONSENT CALENDAR
There were no consent items at this meeting.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
92-05 Amendment to Standish Town Code, Chapter 181, Land Use, Zoning Regulations § 181-73, Definitions, § 181-8 Business and Commercial Districts and § 181-10 Industrial Districts
(First Reading) (Moved to Committee on 7/12/05) [Spencer]
This item remained in committee.
Moved by Simpson Seconded by Lymburner and Voted to take orders 93-05, 94-05 and 95-05 collectively. (Unanimous)
93-05 Amendment to Standish Town Code, Chapter 181, Land Use, Subdivision Regulations, § 181-99, Municipal Consultant Fees (First Reading) [Spencer]
94-05 Amendment to Standish Town Code, Chapter 181, Land Use, Site Plan Review, § 181-70, Procedure for Submission and Review (First Reading) [Spencer]
95-05 Amendment to Standish Town Code, Chapter 181, Land Use, § 181-49, Industrial Commercial and Retail Performance Standards, Employment of a Consultant (First Reading) [Spencer]
Councilor Spencer explained that at last months meeting these were introduced. They all relate to fees being charged in the event a consultant is needed.
Louis Stack said that he understood that the Code Enforcement Officer may need to seek a consultant’s help. He questioned that the Planner who is an engineer needs this consultant services.
Councilor Spencer said that this would be a conflict between the Code Enforcement and the Planning engineer he said that it would be proper for a third party review.
Councilor Lymburner said that the Planning Board currently has the ability to have third party review when it applies to subdivisions. She said that right now we don’t have the ability now to have third party review in the case of a business or anything that is not a subdivision. She said that three ordinances clarify the language so that the language is the same in all parts of the code. She noted that Bud Benson is the Planner and an engineer there are areas where he does not have expertise.
Councilor Christy said that there may always be issues that come up that will need third party review.
VOTE TO MOVE TO PUBLIC HEARING: 6 Yeas – 0 Nays
102-05 Amendment to Town of Standish Fee Schedule (Tabled Until the September Meeting) [Simpson]
This item remained on the table.
103-05 Increase EMS Billing Clerk Hours (Tabled Until the September Meeting) [Simpson]
This item remained on the table.
108-05 Road Acceptance Submitted by Gilbert Homes, Inc. – Florence Lane and Jodies Way (Tabled at the 7/12/05 Meeting) [Hopkins]
Moved by Christy Seconded by Lymburner and Voted to remove this item from the table. (Unanimous)
The Public Works Director left the room for a moment so this item was tabled until later in the meeting by unanimous consent.
NEW BUSINESS
119-05 Resolution Recognizing Standish Town Councilor Gene Nesbitt for his Service to the Town of Standish [Lymburner]
Councilor Lymburner said that the order speaks for itself. She said that she was very proud to have worked with Gene and will miss his participation on the Council.
Councilor Pomerleau said that he worked with Gene on the Economic Development and Route 113 Corridor, and Appointments Committees and he really pulled the load. He will be tough to replace.
VOTE ON ORDER: 6 Yeas – 0 Nays
Moved by Simpson and Seconded by Christy and Voted to take Order 108-05 off the table. (Unanimous)
Roger Mosley the Director of Public Works said this was tabled at the last meeting for a few items but it is ready now other than a few administrative issues.
120-05 Resolution Recognizing Standish Fire/EMS Personnel [Hopkins]
Chair Hopkins said that the Council wanted to make sure that these individuals were recognized by the Town of Standish.
VOTE: 6 Yeas – 0 Nays
121-05 Resolution Recognizing Public Safety Personnel for Exemplary Service [Hopkins]
Mr. Billington said that when this incident happened a lot of people came through to help us.
VOTE: 6 Yeas – 0 Nays
122-05 Release Performance Guaranty – Mark Floor – Orchard Road [Hopkins]
Moved by Lymburner Seconded by Christy and Voted to amend the order by adding amount of $24,375 to the order. (Unanimous)
VOTE ON ORDER AS AMENDED: 6 Yeas – 0 Nays
123-05 Release Performance Guaranty – James Cummings - Corrine’s Place [Hopkins]
Moved by Lymburner Seconded by Christy and Voted to amend the order by adding amount of $159,252.70 to the order. (Unanimous)
VOTE ON ORDER AS AMENDED: 6 Yeas – 0 Nays
124-05 Release Performance Guaranty – Jocelia Hartwell – Knights Woods Subdivision [Hopkins]
Moved by Lymburner Seconded by Christy and Voted to amend the order by adding amount of $ 6,234.64 to the order. (Unanimous)
VOTE ON ORDER AS AMENDED: 6 Yeas – 0 Nays
125-05 Cast Ballot for Maine Municipal Association 2006 Slate of Candidates [Hopkins]
Mr. Billington explained that MMA solicits people to serve on their executive committee. He said that they have a nominating committee that chooses and then recommends candidates to the Board of Directors and this is the result of those nominations. A copy of the ballot is available at the Town Clerks Office.
VOTE: 6 Yeas – 0 Nays
126-05 Carry Forward Certain Accounts [Simpson]
Councilor Simpson said that the order speaks for itself that these are ongoing things that weren’t accomplished during the year.
Louis Stack asked which roads were involved.
Roger Mosley the Director of Public Works said that Cape and Boundary Roads and the work has been completed but the bill was received after the beginning of the new fiscal year.
VOTE: 6 Yeas – 0 Nays
127-05 Town Council Chair Appointment to Council Standing Committee [Hopkins]
Moved by Hopkins Seconded by Christy and Voted to add the name of Dolores Lymburner to the order. (Unanimous)
VOTE ON ORDER AS AMENDED: 6 Yeas- 0 Nays
PUBLIC ITEMS
Bill Sutton a resident of Standish read a letter that he had sent to the Council regarding an appeal of the Pit Stop fueling application. A Copy of the letter is on file with the Town Council minutes. He went on to say that it was his opinion that in their roll as a Council, he is asking that they consider whether or not to fight this appeal or say that the appeal has merit and the Town should accept the arguments that are being made. He said that if this Council would address this issue with the Department of Environmental Protection where this application is being considered, if you agree that this project is in violation of the retail business in a Village Zone and that this is not appropriate and you are considering that bulk storage in the Village Center is an appropriate use. If you were to communicate these
concerns to the DEP they would pay attention to that. He said that DEP will be reviewing the fact that we are amending previous site plan – the Colonial Market Place – that was reviewed by the DEP, the green space, buffering, the wet lands were all part of that and if this Town feels that those should be preserved the DEP would listen to those concerns from you.
Jennifer Connors of Job Road said that she came tonight with some of the same concerns as Mr. Sutton. She said that she had a great concern with how Colonial Market Place was able to sell their buffer to Mr. Lampron or the Pit Stop. She said that they are setting a terrible precedence for down the road. She said that she didn’t understand how that was able to be passed. She noted that there were numerous previous Board Members that expressed their concerns. She said that she felt that the Planning Board really brushed them aside as they did everyone else that night. She that she was concerned with the bulk storage being so close to the Market Place which is extremely busy place, why would Mr. Lampron want to put 30,000 gallons of heating oil beside the busiest part of Standish.
She said that there is only one exit that they will be using, they will use the Colonial Market Place exit. She said that she was very unhappy with how the Planning Board was to the citizens of Standish. She said the Planning Board acted as if these were new concerns that were being brought up and that it was too late now. She said that one of the comments from one of the Board Members was…Why are you bringing this stuff up now? Why didn’t you bring this up earlier? She said that these concerns were brought up earlier; she said that she watched all the meetings from home and said that all these concerns were brought up by the Biegel’s but completely disregarded. Their questions were never answered. She said the same thing that Mr. Sutton said she was not against the gas station but the heating oil storage is very dangerous.
Louis Stack said that he didn’t know what their action would be regarding the previous speakers, but he thought that if it were to come before them as an order he wondered if the owner of the Pit Stop would have a chance to rebut what these people are saying in front of you so that you would have a second side of the story. He asked is that what will happen? He said that he knew that they could individually express any views that they wanted to. But, as a Council if you have a resolution in favor of those people that would come before you and would the other side would be able to rebut.
Chair Hopkins said that if an order came before us any member of the public would have an opportunity to speak. She said that she wanted to clarify one thing. She said that a number of the Councilors had received phone calls; she went on to say that it’s not true, even if we speak as individuals there is a legal issue there. Whether we are sitting behind the microphones or in our place of business or the grocery store, we have to be careful of what we say. We cannot comment since there is a law suit. We can’t comment from our own homes or from here. That’s what we have been advised.
Louis Stack thanked her for that explanation.
Chair Hopkins said that very one would have the opportunity to speak.
Councilor Simpson said that the issue now is we have taken to court so therefore an order before us would be inappropriate because both parties will have their day in court. He said that we have an elected Planning Board and an appointed Board of Appeals; it is up to us now to protect them and defend them.
Councilor Lymburner said that she was contacted by the owner of the Pit Stop last week and refused to comment on the case itself, but did advise him of the Council Meeting tonight and that we did have a public comment period. So, he knew of this opportunity this evening.
Caroline Biegel said that it is her name on the appeal that is going before the Town of Standish. She said that in one sense she feels badly because you see the signs to get board members to serve and she said that she knew it was hard to get members to serve. She said that none of this that came through the appeal is new information and in fact citizens worked very hard to contact Planning Board Members. The Planning Board said to put things in writing and give it to the Chair. So, all these concerns were not only put in writing and given to the Chair. They were also discussed with Bud, Dan, and Mr. Billington at great lengths. She said that they asked for the legal opinion to be given out before that meeting. She said that she was told repeatedly that there would be no response to any of your letters. She said that they showed up at the meeting and we here point blank that we have a written legal opinion on this matter and you can get a copy of it the next day at town hall.
She said that they went to get a copy the next day but there was no written legal opinion. She said that she didn’t think that is protecting board members because that is not a board member problem. That is a town official problem. She said that wrong information was given to Planning Board members and that is a town issue. She said that she had a conversation with Mr. Billington before hand where she thought he said that someone over saw the Planning Board and Planning Department and that if mistakes were made it would be better to catch them sooner than later. She said that she keeps getting no response so there is frustration as a public citizen of trying to work with public official and not getting any response back. She said that feels badly that it has gone to this point but anyone that saw that June 6th meeting will realize that was a sham and totally inappropriate. She said that if you haven’t
watched the meeting she hoped that they would because it is very revealing.
Councilor Lymburner noted that the application for the renters/property tax rebate are available at Town Hall. The program has been expanded so many more people may qualify.
Louis Stack asked what the age for the Adelphia senior discount.
Mr. Billington said that he should call him tomorrow for the number to call.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Several upcoming meetings were announced.
EXECUTIVE SESSION (S)
Moved Seconded and Voted to arise from executive session. The Council arose from executive session at 9:25 pm by unanimous consent.
ADJOURN
Moved Seconded Voted to adjourn. The meeting adjourned at 9:25 pm by unanimous consent.
Submitted by: _____S/Mary Chapman_______________
Clerk/Secretary
| 
