Updated with new location: Newcastle voters will gather in Lincoln Academy’s dining commons for town meeting at 7 p.m., Monday, June 15.
Voters will consider amendments to design review and shellfish conservation regulations, a contract with a consultant to draft a new comprehensive plan and land use ordinance, and whether to hire a full-time deputy town clerk, among other matters.
Voters will have to decide whether to accept the recommendations of the Newcastle Board of Selectmen or the Newcastle Finance Committee on a number of budget questions.
The selectmen recommend a total town budget of $1,567,048.52, an increase of $57,518.52 or 3.81 percent. The finance committee recommends a budget of $1,490,144.62, a decrease of $19,385.38 or 1.28 percent.
The deputy town clerk position and the question of how much to raise for the comprehensive plan and land use ordinance process account for most of the difference between the two recommendations.
The selectmen recommend the addition of a deputy town clerk at $31,200 per year or $15 per hour. The finance committee does not recommend the hire.
The town currently employs a full-time town administrator and town clerk and a part-time deputy town clerk who plans to retire in November 2016.
Since the retirement of part-time Deputy Town Clerk Sharon Donaghy in July 2013, “we have tried to run the office … with less personnel and have found that it’s taking more of the town administrator’s time to work the counter than for her to perform her job as town administrator,” Newcastle Board of Selectmen Chairman Brian Foote said.
A hire now would also give Deputy Town Clerk Diane Wyman time to train the new deputy before she retires. The town would not replace Wyman when she retires.
The addition of a full-time deputy town clerk would still leave a more lean town office staff than in some previous years, when the town had a full-time town administrator, a full-time town clerk, and two full-time deputy town clerks.
The other major difference between the recommendations of the selectmen and the finance committee lies in the budget for the new comprehensive plan and land use ordinance.
Voters agreed to raise $60,000 for the process last year. The selectmen recommend another $60,000 this year while the finance committee recommends $30,000.
“Last year, we said we would raise $120,000 total – $60,000 last year, $60,000 this year – and we feel we need to stick with that to move forward with our comprehensive plan and our land use ordinance changes, to get everything done,” Foote said.
The finance committee would prefer to “space the dollars out over the next couple of years,” Foote said. “We’re thinking that, to get this done in a timely manner, that doesn’t work for us.”
The town does not have final figures, but expects to spend the entire $120,000 on the planning process and possibly return to voters next year to request a little bit more, according to Foote.
Maine Design Workshop would receive the majority of the money to facilitate the planning process and draft the new comprehensive plan and land use ordinance.
The deal with Maine Design Workshop will also go before voters at town meeting when they consider whether to authorize the selectmen to execute a contract with the group.
The selectmen placed the article on the warrant “because we feel we should be open and it’s the town’s decision to get this accomplished or not,” Foote said. A “committee has looked at different proposals and has chosen this company they would like to go with, but we want the town approval on it.”
Everyone who has to deal with the Newcastle land use ordinance knows it is “in desperate need of a major overhaul,” Newcastle Selectman Ben Frey said.
“It’s a nightmare to work with,” Frey said. “It’s a nightmare for residents to understand what they can and can’t do. It’s a nightmare to administer for the planning board.”
The land use ordinance contains the rules that guide the town, Frey said. “It’s been very, very restrictive, and it would be nice to have an ordinance that is not discouraging, but encouraging.”
The town received proposals from four groups to provide professional assistance to the town and a committee met with all four, Frey said.
The process Maine Design Workshop described “was very community-engagement-oriented, and that’s one of the most important things for us,” Frey said.
Voters could get an early start on land use changes if they approve changes to the design review ordinance.
The changes add exterior color, utilities like generators and satellite dishes, and other items to the list of what constitutes a “material change” subject to review. The amendment also alters historic preservation and demolition rules.
The design review rules apply to the villages of Damariscotta Mills and Sheepscot, as well as the area around downtown Newcastle.
Katharina Keoughan sits on the design review committee. The revision “hopes to clarify (ambiguous) language to reflect the content and intent of the ordinance,” Keoughan said.
The new language addresses color, but “does not tell anyone what color they must paint their house,” Keoughan said. “The revisions allow for a choice of over 200 colors.”
According to the draft rules, applicants must select paint colors from “California Paints Historic Colors of America, Benjamin Moore’s Williamsburg Collection, or a similar historical palette.”
“In all cases, buildings shall be visually compatible with neighboring buildings and other buildings in the district,” the new rules state.
A vote against the rules would force the committee to continue to administer ambiguous rules, Keoughan said.
The shellfish conservation ordinance amendment would eliminate specific conservation requirements and require the shellfish conservation committee to establish conservation requirements each year, which the selectmen would review.
Foote said he expects the deputy town clerk and the design review changes to generate discussion at the meeting.
“Residents need to come voice their opinion and cast their votes, not let the minority rule for the majority,” Foote said.
