On March 10, The Gateway 1 Implementation Steering Committee held their first meeting since the Maine Dept. of Transportation suspended their involvement in Gateway 1 earlier this month.
“It was a good meeting,” said Don White, Chairman of the Implementation Steering Committee. “We’re still a group; we’re still operating.”
About 50 people attended the meeting, White said, and almost all were in favor of continuing the committee’s work, with or without DOT funding.
There are still many questions that remain unanswered, and a lot of details to be worked out regarding what form the committee will take in the future, but for now they plan to move forward.
One question that still remains to be answered is how DOT will handle funding for projects already underway in participating towns.
Mark Latti, Spokesman for DOT, said no decision has been made and the various projects will be handled on “a case by case basis.”
However, in an email to White, Chris Mann, DOT’s Project Manager for Gateway 1, a wrote: “Maine DOT will reimburse [towns] for all work accomplished on these project through March 1… For any community without a signed agreement with their consultant as of March 1, Maine DOT will reimburse you for any administrative costs incurred up to March 1…”
“We still have a lot of questions,” White said. “We’re going to be exploring the specifics of what it means for us work without DOT.”
The committee’s next meeting will be the last week in April, although the date and location have not been fixed, White said.
