Newcastle’s Annual Town Meeting takes place Saturday morning (June 11) for the first time in recent memory.
According to Newcastle historian Arlene Cole, the 1962 Annual Town Meeting took place on a Saturday, March 10 at 2 p.m. at the “new” Lincoln Academy gym. The date – over 49 years ago – marks the most recent record of a Saturday meeting, Cole said.
This year’s meeting begins at 9 a.m., with an election (see “Straw won’t run, Dickens will”) to precede the meeting on Fri., June 10.
“A lot of citizens have asked for” a Saturday meeting, Selectman Lee Straw said at a March 28 meeting of the Newcastle Board of Selectmen.
Selectman Ellen Dickens expressed caution about the change. “For every person you’re enabling, you’re going to make it harder for someone else,” she said.
Ultimately, however, the board unanimously approved the new schedule.
Residents in attendance this year might find another change. Newcastle Town Administrator Ron Grenier and the selectmen are considering the replacement of traditional voice votes and hand-raising with electronic “keypad polling.”
“It would speed the process unbelievably,” Dickens said.
The town’s first experience with the small, wireless devices, which provide instant feedback, took place at a Nov. 30, 2010 land use workshop at the Harriet Bird Clubhouse.
Questions remain about the implementation of the new system, however. Grenier has submitted an inquiry to the Secretary of State to determine the legality of the change. He has yet to determine the cost and availability to rent keypad polling devices.
Spencer and Sarah Reed had last paid taxes on the property in 2007. Following several unsuccessful attempts to locate the Reeds, the town foreclosed on the property and Grenier began to prepare an advertisement in order to seek bids on the land.
Dickens and Maloney, however, found an email address on Spencer Reed’s Facebook profile and a physical address on Switchboard, an online directory.
Reed, of Arundel, paid his bill, as well as a 10 percent administrative fee, totaling about $308.
“We’re finding people through the social network,” Grenier said. “We’ll probably, as a result of this, start consulting more of those.”
The selectmen appointed Chris Doherty to serve on the LCTV Board of Directors. According to Grenier, Doherty has expressed interest in the idea.
LCTV already films and televises meetings in Bristol, Damariscotta, Wiscasset and other Lincoln County towns.
The county’s budget is flat this year and will likely remain flat next year, Bond said.
The future of the budget depends largely on the outcome of a legal battle between Lincoln and Sagadahoc County about the funding formula for Two Bridges Regional Jail.
In the meantime, department heads are utilizing “innovative” means to save money. Bond singled out Tim Pellerin, director of the Lincoln County Emergency Management Agency, for his successful efforts to obtain grants.
The town owns three of the trucks, the Newcastle Fire Co. owns five and the town and the Fire Co. jointly (56/44) own one.
According to Grenier, Newcastle Fire Chief Clayton Huntley has registered all nine trucks in the name of the Newcastle Fire Co., contrary to Bureau of Motor Vehicles regulations.
The town pays for maintenance, fuel and insurance for the entire fleet, Grenier wrote in a March 23 memorandum. Maintenance alone costs $15,500 annually, he said.
In the memo, Grenier summarized recent events involving the Fire Co.’s hope to purchase a new fire truck this year. He raised questions about the “appropriate amount of financial support” the town should provide for maintenance, fuel and insurance of Fire Co. trucks.
Grenier, citing advice from a municipal coordinator with the Bureau of Motor Vehicles, advised that the town “is only responsible for insurance and liability on any town-owned vehicle…”
According to the memo, Grenier will also direct Huntley to “comply with… registration regulations,” which require the Fire Co. to register its trucks as commercial vehicles and pay applicable fees at the town office.
According to Bryant, the expansion of the farm over 2400-ft. of the river’s surface would create “a very difficult situation for sailboats” attempting to navigate the river.
The Harbor Committee works to maintain a balance between commercial and recreational interests on the river, McKinnon said. “This moves the balance away from the middle,” he said.
I eat enough of the oysters. I’m not against aquaculture,” McKinnon said.
Bryant and McKinnon both said that, if the Walpole-based aquaculture business agreed to “break up” the expansion into multiple smaller areas, both interests might reach an effective compromise.
The selectmen agreed to send a letter, along with Bryant’s comments, to Diantha Robinson, Aquaculture Hearings Officer at the Dept. of Marine Resources (DMR).
Robinson will make a recommendation following a future public hearing. According to Grenier, the final decision on the matter rests with the DMR Commissioner, not the municipality.
