Dear Editor:

The upcoming vote on the creation of a TIF district just a few weeks after it was unveiled to the residents of Boothbay is a case of too much, too soon. In fact, my kids took a longer time deciding what to wear for Halloween than we have had to decipher the good, the bad and the ugly of this proposal.

If it's a matter of attracting good paying jobs to the town, why don't we start with developing a TIF for the industrial park and then expand if need be? Why do we need to drastically alter the gateway to the town — and that includes the new sign ordinances?

In my opinion, this plan feels like it was designed to best suit the needs of the Boothbay Harbor (that's what the sign says) Country Club and then took on a life of its own from there. Mr. Coulombe bought the club of his own free will. Good for him. He's entitled to do with it what he may. He is not entitled to reshape the look of this town to benefit his private investment.

During a public hearing last week, the Boothbay selectmen vowed that the public would be involved in deciding the Village Improvement Plan and there would be an advisory committee put in place to help shape a plan if the TIF goes forward.

In a letter to the editor, Mr. Coulombe repeated his pledge to pay the town's $2.5 million bond and interest if his clubhouse project was not completed by 2017. However, he made it a condition that the Village improvement Preliminary Concept (the one with the rotary and a nice new access to Country Club Road as the centerpiece) could only be modified by MDOT.

The way I read it is he is pledging the money as long as we the people don't have a say in what the gateway to our town will look like.

I'm voting no for this TIF plan, the bond and the ordinance amendments. Let's take some more time and collectively decide how best to shape Boothbay's future.

Robert Conlin
Boothbay