Select Board Meeting Minutes Thursday May 15th, 2025
Select Board Meeting Minutes
Thursday May 15th, 2025
-Opened the meeting and established a quorum. S. Ford B. Duffy and Dan Carter present. Also, present; D. Ford and L. Dow. From the public and online: J. Wetterskog, L. Lyman, J. Horsey, J. Benjamin, C. Real De Azua and R. Colburn
Approve minutes from May 8th– Motion and 2nd to accept as amended. 3-0 approved.
CEO Report:
Duane gave his weekly report: Browns busing parking lot has been topic of conversation. It seems that is has morphed into a stockpile of old vehicles as well as parts and pieces. He believes there may have been some restrictions and will look into this. There is some new construction being done on Franks Flat. J. Carter bought the property but has found that she can’t put a basement under and by the advice of Mr. Gray is thinking of selling. Duane will continue to monitor the Joyce Anderson house lot. She also is thinking of selling. The new owners of the old store in West Sedgwick; C & G are thinking of reopening under the same use. Duane will be working with them on the specifics. Still waiting on a timeline. Duane met with Friends of Walker Pond on 5/14. He will be setting up a meeting with longtime member; Don Hale to go around the properties on the pond to assess, as there has been lots of new construction. Duane remarked on his impression of Mr. Dufor of Maine DEP who visited the site of the now approved campground and laid out detailed guidelines for the next steps for Mr. Scott. Any additional work beyond the acre of land will require more permitting from the DEP and an engineered Stormwater Management Plan. Duane will continue to monitor the situation.
Discussion and/or Action Items:
- Citizens Petition- The board received a petition asking for a 180-day moratorium on large scale projects like the campground. The petitions were delivered to the Town Clerk for certifying. Upon review of the petitions, and only after checking with the lawyers was it established that although the majority of the signatures were registered votes, all but one were invalid due to the lack of a notary statement. Each petition requires that the circulator witness each signature and then swear under oath, in front of a notary, that they did just that. There must be a seal and signature of a notary on each set of petitions. Only one, with 17 signatures was valid. The board read to those present a letter from the lawyer as well as the Town Clerk’s letter deeming them invalid. The Select Board dismissed the petitions on those grounds. The Town does think that the ordinance may need to be reviewed and revised but acknowledges the need for more time and research to do so. The timeline for creating an ordinance isn’t a quick one- and it would have no bearing on this already approved project. Select Board members feel that is a slippery slope diving into changing ordinances and that much more time is needed to know what is best for the area.
PUBLIC COMMENT:
Jerry asked if Barry had some time to chat about the sand pile and ideas for beginning stages of a salt/sand shed. The two will coordinate to go up there to review/discuss and take some photos. For context- there may be some grant funding available to build a salt/shed.
ADJOURN:
Motioned and 2nd to adjourn. Approved 3-0 @6:45pm
Respectfully Submitted,
Lyndsey Dow
approved 2-0 5/29/2025