Robert Faunce, for the last 20 years Lincoln County's regional planner, is retiring at the end of March. He began his work with Lincoln County in 1998, first as a consultant and after that, under a contract with the Lincoln County Commissioners. “I have other similar contracts with other towns outside of Lincoln County,” he said. “But as time has gone on, I cut back most of that work, and now am pretty much limited to Lincoln County and one other town.”

Although technically retiring from Lincoln County Regional Planning Commission, he said there are still grant projects he needs to follow up on, and files he needs to “clean up” so new planner Megan McLaughlin can find her way around them. She starts Feb. 11, and will be working with Faunce until the end of March to learn how he does things. “She'll be able to hit the ground running. She's smart and energetic. I just want to make sure everything's in order.”

With the new state administration in Augusta, he is hopeful he can get involved on at least a voluntary basis. “Gov. Janet Mills has identified coastal issues and other issues as things she wants to tackle,” he said.

Faunce would be qualified to do work centered on certain coastal issues, especially on sea level rise stemming from global climate change. He has worked with many coastal towns, including Boothbay Harbor, Wiscasset and Damariscotta, on issues related to sea level rise and ways towns can deal with that reality, a method called “resilience” which can involve physical changes to the shore zone and changes to the town’s ordinances and comprehensive plans, especially on waterfront development. In recent years, estimates for sea level rise have changed from three feet at the end of the 21^st century to six to 10 feet, and the Gulf of Maine, warming faster than other parts of the ocean, is likely to have a greater impact than cooler areas. “When water warms up, it expands,” Faunce said. “That means the sea rises faster.” Other issues have compounded the problem, primarily the melting of ice in Greenland and Antarctica, which will be joining the sea and raising levels worldwide, including in Maine.

In the last seven or eight years, coastal towns have become more understanding of issues related to climate change, he said. “I've only talked to one or two people who might be considered 'climate-deniers',” he said. “People on the coast notice – because they have to – that water levels go up, that storms are more severe, that there is more coastal flooding.” Faunce said the biggest problem is the cost to solve some of the more pressing issues. “When you don't see a way out, you sometimes ignore the issue,” he said. “Then, in the end, it costs you more.”

Faunce said it will cost a million dollars or more to protect the Wiscasset Wastewater Treatment plant. “The town doesn't have that kind of money, and without a planner in place, there's no opportunity for grant funding,” he said. Damariscotta's downtown flooding and potential flooding issues are likely to cost $3 million. Boothbay Harbor is on track to cost another $2 million. “It's hard to fund that kind of work, and most of it is federal funding, which can be held up for years, depending on political will.”

Faunce said even if the state does some bonding to deal with resilience issues around coastal climate change, the money that can be raised is not likely to be enough for many of the projects. Part of what he hopes to do with the new administration in Augusta is help it develop a state-federal partnership to extend the funding the state can provide by incorporating federal dollars.

Although coastal issues have take the front seat in recent years, Faunce said that when he first started working for Lincoln County, the major issue was residential and commercial development, mostly in inland towns.

“There was a great deal of development pressure on both coastal but especially inland towns that had never experienced that kind of pressure before,” he said. Housing prices were increasing to the point where locals couldn't afford the new residential developments. They were geared to summer communities, high-priced retirement communities, and second homes. “The housing crash brought most of that development to a screeching halt,” he said. “And in inland towns, the development never really recovered from the Great Recession.” Today, he spends more time working with them with economic development, community block grants and comprehensive plan development, a precursor for many state grants.

A major focus today is working toward issues like stormwater quality and universal broadband, which he said is essential for most business development. Housing studies should be done for many towns to avoid more abandoned subdivisions and help create housing types that are needed. This may include single family developments – “but not high income second homes,” Faunce said, as well as senior housing and multi-generational low income housing.

Faunce enjoyed working with local boards and other community members. “It was one of the nice things about working in Lincoln County,” he said. “I worked with decision makers, and we were able to see their projects progress quickly.” He said the people of Lincoln County were generally enthusiastic about working with the planning commission, in part, because there was no direct fee for most services. “We have to charge for some things, like development of a comprehensive plan. There’s just no money in the county budget to pay for that. But there's a lot we do as part of our grant development that the towns don't have to pay for.” 

Faunce said he'll miss Lincoln County, but believes this is the time to make the way clear for new leadership. “We need fresh approaches and new thinking. I am confident our new planner will be the person the county needs to deal with the issues that are on the horizon.”