Boothbay Harbor selectmen

Tue, 03/01/2022 - 8:45am

JOSEPH CHARPENTIER

Boothbay Harbor’s footbridge. File photo

This article originally incorrectly stated that plans to raise the footbridge by one foot would also not move forward. They will.

Corrected post: The footbridge project will have to move forward without plans expanding the width of the bridge, selectmen learned Feb. 28. Civil engineer Will Gartley of Gartley and Dorsky is working on permitting requirements for the footbridge project and recently discovered the town's land use code does not support a one-foot sideward expansion as favored by the board, said Town Manager Julia Latter. Plans to raise the bridge by a foot will still move forward, she said.

“It's already a legally nonconforming structure … and no matter what we do, it isn't possible to increase it that one foot and we must maintain its current width including the railings,” she said.

The work will require a revision to the submerged lands lease and permits from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Natural Resource Protection Act and Maine Department of Environmental Protection. Such permits cannot be awarded if the plans do not follow local ordinances even if they do follow each department’s or organization’s criteria, said Latter.

Selectman Ken Rayle suggested the town create a footbridge ordinance that would allow a modest expansion. Latter said she would ask the town’s attorney if that was feasible and, if so, could everything can be arranged for a May 6 town vote.

Said Rayle, “If we have the time to do that, then we can make sure there's no question or ambiguity about that and it would … solve a lot of problems.”

Latter said the town is searching for a seasonal parking enforcement person, per diem front counter support and assistant tax collector, and a full-time town planner, a job shared with Damariscotta. Applications for the front counter support and town planner jobs are available online and at the town office, 11 Howard St., and are due March 15 and March 17, respectively. Applications and more information on the parking enforcement job are available at the police department next door.

Nomination papers for six three-year seats are still available at the town office: two selectmen, one Boothbay-Boothbay Harbor Community School District committee member, one CSD trustee, one Boothbay Region Water District trustee and one BB-BBH Cemetery District trustee. As of Feb. 24, Selectmen’s Chair Mike Tomko was the only candidate to submit papers. Papers are due at the town office by 4:30 p.m. March 7. Voting will be from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. May 6. The annual town meeting is at 9 a.m. May 7 in the Boothbay Region Elementary School gymnasium.

After an executive session on personnel, selectmen voted unanimously to recognize Maine's adoption of June 19, or Juneteenth, as a municipal holiday.