Boothbay selectmen approved a letter of support April 24 for the Boothbay Harbor Sewer District’s  proposed charter change. Sewer district officials are seeking an amended charter to include a Boothbay voting representative to the three-person board of trustees and updating charter language to comply with current state laws and regulations. Boothbay selectmen voted 5-0 to authorize Town Manager Dan Bryer to draft and  send a letter to the Legislature.  On April 22, Boothbay Harbor selectmen also approved sending a letter supporting the proposed amendment. 

Despite local support, Sewer Superintendent Chris Higgins wasn’t sure the proposal would be approved in time for Boothbay and Boothbay Harbor voter ratification in November. Higgins told selectmen the revisor’s office’s written amendment didn’t match language the district provided. “When we looked at it, it was nothing like we submitted. Entire sections went unchanged so we had to resubmit it all over. I’m not sure if the Legislature will approve changes in time for November,” he said.

In other action, selectmen discussed a recent Ulmer Fund Scholarship award.  On March 27, selectmen voted 4-0 granting $1,000 of an Ulmer Fund request to home schooled high school student Sophia Gudroe. She requested $2,250 to pursue a $5,993 home-based ballet training in Topsham. Selectman Kristina Ford didn't attend the March 27 meeting when  the award was made. She requested selectmen reconsider the amount and fund the entire $2,250 request. “I feel bad I wasn’t here because this is a young girl who has organized her entire life around ballet training. I think this decision was penny wise and dollar foolish because this girl could someday become an Ellie Logan with a sign welcoming people to the community of Sophia Gudroe,” Ford said.

The four selectmen who approved the Ulmer Fund request stood by their original decision. In past years, Ulmer Fund grants have been around $1,000 per applicant. Selectman Dale Harmon defended the majority’s decision in approving recent requests. “I know I may sound like an ogre and apologize in advance, but we need to be fiscally responsible,” he said. “We need to make sure the fund has enough for all requests and we only have $21,000 available. I’m not saying Sophia isn’t deserving of more.  I’m saying if we give out $1,500 to $2,000 we are going to eat through that $21,000 in no time.”

 Selectmen did agree on one Ulmer Fund point.  If the fund earned more, then all members would support higher grants. The fund was established in 1974 when a $50,000 grant was bestowed upon Madelyn Ulmer’s death. Ulmer placed two restrictions on the fund. One was the town couldn’t spend the principal, and the second was scholarships must be used to further a Boothbay resident’s high school education. Ford volunteered to research ways to grow the fund.

The recent string of cloudy and rainy days may not look like spring, but the code office is in full bloom with an influx of applications. Bryer reported the business office received six building, three shoreland, six internal plumbing, six planning board, one development, one subdivision, two wharves and wiers, one shoreland building, eight shoreland vegetation removal, and two demolition permits and five final inspections.

“Generally this time of year we see an uptick, and even though we missed a meeting this is still a significant amount of applications,” Bryer said.

The Maria Canning Revocable Trust received unanimous board approval for rebuilding and modifying a pressure-treated wooden six foot by 90 foot pier with granite crib supports, a 3 foot by 50 foot aluminum ramp and 14 foot by 40 foot pressure-treated wood float at 41 Albion Point Road on Sawyers Island.

Selectmen also unanimously approved three license renewal applications. Lori and Win Mitchell received an innkeeper’s license renewal for the Boothbay Resort at 301 Adams Pond Road. Cabbage Island Clambake received a special amusement permit and Class I, II, III or IV liquor license. Ocean Point Inn received a special permit license renewal and a new seasonal catering permit for poolside service. The state had denied a past request due to confusion about the applicant’s location.

“I think they confused us with Spruce Point,” Ocean Point Inn Tony Krason said. “You can’t serve across the road unless you’re catering an event. So we started talking to the state last year and they realized our pool is on the same side of the street as the inn, but Spruce Point’s is across the road.”

Selectmen meet next at 7 p.m. May 8 in the municipal building’s conference room.