May 13, the Boothbay Harbor planning board continued its completeness review for Boothbay Harbor Waterfront Preservation’s (BBHWP) East Side Park site plan application to amend the previously approved 2020 plan.

The main topic was BBHWP’s plan to dispose of its wastewater (greywater) from the splashpad and whether it will be entering the public sewer system.

In a post-meeting interview, Mitch Rasor of Rasor Landscape Architecture clarified that BBHWP’s approved 2020 permit allowed the water to enter the public sewer, hence the continuing conversations around that topic, but BBHWP would rather recycle the water to irrigate the lawn. This includes water from the splashpad and any stormwater, snow melt and run-off that enters.

The plan has a National Resources Protection Act (NPRA) permit from Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). Rasor said a Department of Health and Human Services permit was not required as the water will not be cycled back into the splashpad, so it will not come into contact with people.  

However, former Code Enforcement Officer (CEO) Geoff Smith was not in favor of the irrigation plan, according to Rasor. This is why BBHWP added the extra step of filtering the water to a drinkable standard, despite its not being a DEP requirement.  

This is the plan that was presented at the May 13 meeting, along with a letter from Boothbay Harbor Sewer District Superintendent Sean Boyd saying the district cannot move forward with BBHWP’s water entering the public sewer without a standard operating procedure.

“We would prefer not to go to the sewer. DEP prefers we not go to the sewer. The superintendent of the sewer district does not want us to go to the sewer. We want to recycle,” said Rasor at the meeting. He added, BBHWP is seeking CEO approval to move forward with the recycling project.

On May 11, Boothbay Harbor selectmen voted Town Manager Julia Latter interim CEO and authorized her to search for a new interim CEO and/or licensed plumbing inspector. At the time of writing, this search is ongoing. 

Alternate Jim Mahoney floated requiring regular testing of the filtered water. This was tabled.

Planning board member Merritt Blakeslee and Rasor differed on ordinance § 170-66(B)(8)(j), which requires soil test pit data be provided if on-site sewage disposal is proposed. Blakeslee felt the ordinance requirements had not been satisfied without the data, while Rasor said those requirements do not apply as BBHWP is not disposing of sewage.  

Alternate member Linc Sample agreed: “There is no test pit, because there is no leach field, because the overflow goes into the harbor.”

It was determined, 4-1, Blakeslee opposed, that the requirements had been met without the test pit data.

Members then unanimously deemed the amended site application complete on the condition that BBHWP provide a copy of a 2020 letter from its consultant, the Water Doctors of Maine, upon which the NRPA approval was based.

On the issue of buffering and screening, the board requested the parties send a brief on what legal obligations they believe BBHWP has under ordinances § 170-35 and § 170-70, which deal with mitigating the effects of a commercial property on an adjoining residential property.

“In my personal opinion, this is the single vital issue in the case, and all of the other issues are technical issues that provide endless fodder for litigation, but if the issue of how ... the effects of the park on the abutter can be mitigated, then I would like to hope that that could move us toward a settlement,” said Blakeslee.

Both parties agree to a discussion and a written brief. However, the abutter’s attorney Kristen Collins said shoreline zoning and other technical issues were still on the table. “I just want to preface that it doesn't mean everything is resolved, and we're going to not care about shoreline zoning compliance,” she said.  

The motion passed 4-1, with David Cody opposed.

A site visit was scheduled for May 27. The next planning board meeting is June 10.

In other business, the completeness reviews for Chuck and Jeanne Fuller’s site plan application and shoreland permit to operate Fuller Marine Construction at 85 Atlantic Ave., and Boothbay Region Land Trust’s site plan to add a parking lot and garage, were moved to June 10.