The Newcastle Board of Selectmen agreed to send a notice of enforcement to the owner of Newcastle Center, Juloania Inc., Monday, Jan. 13.
On Dec. 9, 2013, the company signed a contract with the town regarding fire and plumbing code violations. The contract requires Juloania Inc. to pay a $12,000 fee and address the violations or take action to reduce the number of apartments in the building.
A walk-through of the 7-11 Hill St. property was completed Dec. 29 by Newcastle Fire Chief Clayton Huntley, former Code Enforcement Officer Stan Waltz, and interim Code Enforcement Officer Jim Murphy.
According to Huntley, the building’s violations have not been addressed.
Newcastle Board of Selectmen Chairman Brian Foote asked town attorney Peter Drum to send a notice of enforcement to the company.
Once the notice is sent, the company has 30 days to complete the requested changes, before a reversion of ordinance changes would take place, according to Drum.
In 2013, Newcastle voters approved an ordinance change to match the present use of the property as a 15-unit building with 13 apartments. The number of apartments exceeded regulations, according to the town, and Juloania Inc. never obtained the necessary permits for the apartments.
The town voted to amend its zoning to fit the present use of the Newcastle Center building in 2013.
Attempts to reach Juloania Inc. President Paul Sidelinger were unsuccessful by press time.
Damariscotta Town Manager Matt Lutkus, Damariscotta Board of Selectmen Chairman Ronn Orenstein, and Damariscotta-Newcastle Superintendent of Roads, Buildings, and Grounds Steve Reynolds gave the Newcastle selectmen an update on the waterfront improvement committee.
“We’re planning an open house Feb. 5, at Great Salt Bay School, starting at 5:15 p.m.,” Lutkus said.
A summary of the improvements agreed upon by the committee included the parking lot itself, restrooms, a pedestrian walkway, and potentially adding a boardwalk.
“We are in the process of getting final numbers, but we’re looking at around $3 million to $4 million if we were to do everything on our list,” Lutkus said. “We will have a better figure in time for the open house.”
Lutkus and Reynolds gave a brief presentation about the recently purchased pump-out station trailer.
“The state gave Damariscotta $38,000 for a grant for the purchase of the floating pump-out station,” Lutkus said. “We spent almost $32,000 on the pump-out station, and we were left with about $7,000 to spend by the end of December.”
The trailer cost $9,851 originally, but with charging the grant 38 percent of the cost, using the existing trailer as a trade-in, and using the existing operating budget, both towns only owe $175.50 per town, according to Reynolds.
After the presentation, the selectmen approved spending $175.50 for the floating pump-out station trailer.
Lutkus brought the idea of using online mooring software for mooring permitting to the board’s attention.
“The new process would allow the applicant to do most of the process online,” Lutkus said.
The software would charge the town $6 per mooring per year, and both Newcastle and Damariscotta would use the software.
No action was taken by the board, though Lutkus said both harbor committees will discuss advantages and disadvantages of the software at their next meeting.
The selectmen chose March 4 as the next date of their joint meeting with the Damariscotta selectmen. It will take place at 6 p.m. in Damariscotta, immediately following the regular Damariscotta Board of Selectmen meeting.
