Government

New faces, familiar issues for Select Board

| Joanne Cole |

Introductions topped the agenda at the Select Board’s November 1 meeting. Attorneys from the town’s new law firm introduced themselves and circled the Meetinghouse to shake hands with department heads. Tom Doak of Maine Woodland Owners Association introduced the nonprofit to the board as one of New Gloucester’s large landowners. And the board met Jeff Ducharme, whose firm, Solar on Earth, had submitted a proposal outlining possible savings on the town’s electric bills.

The board also returned to two familiar matters. On demolition and disposal of the former Public Works building, the board decided to seek updated bids to reflect a change in plans for transporting and disposing of the demolition materials. The board also decided to give the Ad Hoc Marijuana Committee, which has struggled to draw citizen members, a bit more time to find its footing.

New municipal attorneys. Kristin Collins and Steve Langsdorf of Preti Flaherty’s municipal law group introduced themselves as point persons for the town on legal matters. The board recently selected the firm following a competitive bid process. Collins said her firm serves some 25 municipalities of varying size across the state, including Brunswick, Augusta, Belfast, Kittery, and Windham. Langsdorf added, “We pride ourselves on being very, very responsive.” Particularly in a time of working via email and Zoom, it’s important to “put a name to a face,” he said. Board members expressed appreciation that Langsdorf and Collins had come to do just that.

Maine Woodland Owners presentation. “Our job is to be a good neighbor in the town,” Tom Doak, Executive Director of Maine Woodland Owners, told the board by way of introduction. The nonprofit is active in 50 towns, Doak said, but its largest holdings are now in New Gloucester: nearly all came from the Chandler family, totaling more than 2000 acres. A new kiosk on Chandler Mill Road and signage recognize both the Chandlers and the land trust.

Doak said Maine Woodland is committed “long-term responsible management,” continuing the legacy of the Chandler family. He expects they will be harvesting timber somewhere in town almost every year. As for other uses, the organization occupies a middle ground: open access and continuing current recreational activities like snowmobiling, but neither actively developing trails for ATVs, for example, nor preserving property as “forever wild.” Hunters are welcome but not their tree stands or game cameras, which, along with ATV use and traps, need explicit landowner permission in Maine.

Wrapping up, Doak said, “Everything is an open book with us.” The organization holds educational sessions, publishes a monthly newsletter, and has tract maps and more on its website.

Solar on Earth presentation. Jeff Ducharme, a manager with Solar on Earth, shared an overview and possible savings for the town from participating in his firm’s community solar program. He described community solar, approved by the PUC in 2019, as a way for Maine homeowners, renters, businesses, towns—anyone/anything with a CMP bill–to support solar development without having to invest in or install panels.

Ducharme’s firm operates in several states and acts as intermediary on behalf of solar developers. The firm finds customers to “fill up” the arrays of some 17 Maine solar developers, all in CMP territory. In exchange, customer-participants receive a percentage discount off their CMP bills—10 or 15 percent depending on the type of meter—in effect, sharing indirectly in the financial incentives solar developers receive. Solar on Earth had reviewed New Gloucester’s bills. The town would have saved $3100 in the last year “just for signing up,” Ducharme said.

The program offers guaranteed “straight savings,” Ducharme said, with no sign-up cost or monthly fees. The comment that “it sounds too good to be true” is “the number one objection” his company hears. The arrangement “is really a billing thing,” he explained. Each developer’s array amounts to a power plant for CMP. The developer tracks and meters the energy going to CMP, accumulating a credit balance in the process. The developer then applies those credits to the town’s (and other participants’) CMP bills. The following month, the developer bills the town, less the guaranteed discount. The town completes the loop by paying back the developer at the reduced rate. Savings ensue.

Minot, Litchfield, and Oxford will be participating. L.L. Bean, Nestle/Poland Spring, the UMaine system, Hannaford, the City of Portland, and, closer to home, Links Variety and McCann Fabrication, also do so.

The board had questions. Member Tammy Donovan said she’d recently received “five different offers” in the mail. Why should she choose Solar on Earth? “Boots on the ground,” said Ducharme. “We meet people face-to-face” instead of simply sending them mail. In response to another question, Ducharme said these discount rates would be locked in for 20 years. As time goes on, new participants are likely to receive smaller discounts, he said, pointing out that Massachusetts’ initial discount was 20 percent and it’s now down to seven percent.

During public comment, resident Nick Planson thanked the board and called its exploration of solar power “a great initiative.” Planson said he’d worked for several years with Con Edison Development, building and managing a large portfolio of solar farms and wind farms. He confirmed the value of getting on board early with any incentive program. Federal and state subsidies exist to spur development, Planson said. As facilities come online and costs to build and operate them come down, so do the incentives. Planson added his hope that the town might be able to choose which solar farm to get credits from, expressing his preference for farms that reuse landfills or retired gravel pits instead of clearing wooded tracts. He offered to serve as a resource as the town moves forward.

The board took no action on Solar on Earth’s proposal. Members expressed interest in the community solar concept and in exploring alternatives. No timetable for follow-up was set.

Former Public Works building. Board members made clear that they are more than ready to “make the Public Works building disappear,” as member Steve Hathorne put it. But demolition and disposal of the Upper Village structure will have to wait at least a little longer as town staff obtain updated prices from all five project bidders.

At issue is who will transport the demolition materials and where. The bid documents called for the winning contractor to truck all demolition to the Transfer Station. But the materials turn out to be problematic there: painted concrete block that needs a DEP permit for disposal, wood that would overwhelm the roll-offs, I-beams of inconvenient size. Public Works director Ted Shane had followed up with low bidder Almighty Waste, resulting in an offer from Almighty Waste to haul materials directly to their final resting places for an additional $3000 and to split proceeds of metal recycling with the town. The town would truck the wood debris directly to MWAC in Auburn. Problem solved?

Board members had concerns. Vice chair Paul Larrivee thought that, in fairness, all bidders should be given a chance to bid under the altered terms. Chair Peter Bragdon was reluctant to depart—yet again, in his view—from the town’s competitive bidding and purchasing policies. Member Tammy Donovan countered that the purchasing policy gives the town considerable discretion. She urged moving forward as Shane and Almighty Waste proposed, citing savings and speed.

In the end, considerations of policy and a level playing field prevailed. The board voted to have the town manager and public works director share the revised scope of work and get updated prices from all bidders.

Ad Hoc Marijuana Committee. The board took no action on a proposal to make the select board liaison a voting member of the Ad Hoc Marijuana Committee. The committee is charged with developing ordinances consistent with state marijuana laws. Despite community concern about proposed and ‘informal’ grow facilities, the committee has struggled to attract citizen members. In response, the select board added representatives from the Planning Board and Land Management Planning Committee, moves Donovan considered changing the rules midstream. “We’ve created spots and let them vote, to get a quorum,” she said. Donovan was ready to axe the committee and reassign its tasks to LMPC.

As new select board liaison to the marijuana committee, member Dustin Ward noted that the reconstituted committee had just held a first meeting. It might now be “drawing interest” as a result, Ward said. The board agreed to a wait-and-see period, until after the committee meets again, and took no action. To find the application for appointment to the Ad Hoc Marijuana Committee, or any other town board or committee, click here.

In a related matter, the board set November 30 as the date for a workshop on the town’s boards and committees policies and practices. Pending matters include the role of town staff who serve as liaisons to committees, the role of select board liaisons, and perhaps why some committees’ liaisons are voting members yet others’ are not.

Town manager update. Manager Christine Landes shared news that applications for the library director position have now closed. A four-member search committee will be reviewing and interviewing applicants. Landes also noted the successful near-completion of the Stevens Brook dam and culvert project. The spillway and culvert successfully handled recent torrential rains, noted several board members, who took advantage of the rare chance to comment on actual water over the dam.

To view the video of the November 1 select board meeting, click here. For meeting agendas and supporting documents, click here.