The Select Board has a full agenda for their last meeting before the June 11 election, when voters will fill two board seats. Several longer-term items on the June 3 agenda will become the work of the next board, as current chair Paul Larrivee is stepping down.
The meeting begins at 7 p.m. in the Meetinghouse and will be broadcast on local cable and live-streamed at this link.
Upper Village status. At their June 3 meeting, the Select Board will hear a progress report on the town-owned parcels in the Upper Village and consider next steps. A soils and wetlands investigation has been completed and concludes that the site can support residential or commercial septic and up to 60 residential bedrooms. Next on the proposed to-do list: a comprehensive boundary survey, as existing lot lines are ambiguous or uncertain, according to a memo from Town Planner Kathy Tombarelli.
Tombarelli and the Land Management Planning Committee have been investigating possible uses for the parcels, including for housing, and revisiting the Upper Village Master Plan from 2014. LMPC now seeks big-picture guidance from the board on what direction to take. Find reports, memoranda and sketches of possible housing plans at pp. 60-80 in the June 3 agenda packet.
Safe Streets and Roads for All grant opportunity with Gray. With support from the Greater Portland Council of Governments, Gray and New Gloucester have been discussing a federal “Safe Streets and Roads for All” grant to help with traffic safety measures. New Gloucester has a running start, thanks to participation in GPCOG’s Vision Zero initiative.
Grants start at $100,000 and require a 20 percent local match that can be met with in-kind contributions, such as the value of staff time and other resources the Towns commit to the project. Read the discussion to date at pp.81-91.
Possible public access to Sabbathday Lake? The board will consider whether to authorize Manager Bill Kerbin to see whether a Sabbathday Lake landowner who has property for sale “would be interested in working with the Town to gain public access to the lake.” Understandably, no details are provided in the agenda packet.
Also on the agenda are a liquor license renewal request from Black Tie Catering at Pineland (pp. 95-105) and a slew of appointments to town committees and boards, as terms expire on June 30 (pp. 9-52). Find the full June 3, 2024, agenda at this link.
Public comments can be submitted by email before 10 a.m. on Monday, June 3, to townmanager@newgloucester.com and smyers@newgloucester.com. To have your written comment read aloud, please indicate that in the subject line.
Find contact information for Select Board members and links to meeting agendas, minutes and related documents at this link.
— Joanne Cole
