WILTON – Members of the planning board met Thursday night to discuss two recent moratoriums that were passed by voters: one that was passed earlier this week that puts a 180 day hold on issuing any adult-use marijuana business permits and another that will pause the progression of proposed transmission lines. The moratorium was passed in October in an overwhelmingly favorable vote.
Code Enforcement Officer Charlie Lavin said he is working on creating a comparison chart of other marijuana ordinances in the region- specifically looking at the details of ordinances in Eustis and Farmington. Lavin said he plans to include information such as licensing fees and other processing formalities. The board discussed several details provided by the Maine Municipal Association, such as whether or not providers are able to sell both adult-use and medicinal marijuana products under the same roof or if there needs to be clear separation. The subject was put on hold until more information is presented.
The Elective Electrical Transmission Corridor Moratorium, which was passed two months ago by voters, is giving the planning board time to create guidelines for such projects; the moratorium does not have any impact on projects currently in progress.
The town has sought legal advice on the moratorium after Central Maine Power said they find it to be invalid; however, members of the board are moving forward with the discussion of ordinance details. A number of ideas were suggested by Selectman Tom Saviello which the board used as a guideline to begin their conversation. Those topics were: height restrictions, details of pesticides used, noise traffic, visual impact, decommissioning agreement and stipulations for a right of way.
“I do think we need to get subject matter experts to weigh in on this stuff,” Planning Board member Cherieann Harrison said.
Harrison said she is hesitant to suggest a height restriction for safety purposes and would prefer to get the opinion of someone who knows more about the subject. The poles that currently exist in the transmission line in question are 45 feet high while the ones being proposed would more than double that height. If approved by voters, the new ordinance could impact the proposed New England Clean Energy Connect project which aims to bring power from a hydro station in Canada through the Western part of Maine and into Massachusetts. The project would cross through Wilton for roughly a half mile and would include five new towers and an additional 75 feet of corridor width.
The board agreed that some stipulations should be placed regarding the use of herbicides or pesticides. Planning Board alternate Gwendolyn Doak suggested that the corridor be maintained with hand trimming rather than a spray device. The board is going to get more information on what would be used.
Two other major topics of discussion were the decommissioning requirements and support for preparing local emergency responders.
“In light of what just happened with the Forster Mill building it would be a good idea to put in a stipulation so that 50 years from now it can take care of removing the lines,” Lavin said.
The board agreed that the decommission costs should cover 50 percent of the construction costs.
A training for the local fire department and other local first responders would be required if approved as well as an access road adjacent to the length of the line.
Saviello will attend the next meeting on the Dec. 19, Lavin said. The board is hoping to finalize a first draft of the ordinance at the next meeting. The ordinance would then require a public hearing for input and would need approval from voters at the spring town meeting.
Why do we have to keep voting, when we already said no. Pushy pushy. Mrs Janet mills where are you to save our town?
Why do the politicians not understand the word NO !
The Webster Dictionary defines the word NO is use to ‘express denial’….are any of the elected representatives having trouble with the English language ???? Should this be the case perhaps they should return to some English 101 classes at our local high school. The people who sign your paycheck have told you NO ! Now do what the voters told you to do..and not some shifty sidewise spin of the word NO !
‘Save our town’? Really? From what? You must be speaking of that damn Devil’s Lettuce, I don’t think a slightly improved power line is the boogie man here!
What is the current deeded right of way along the proposed transmission line? Does this right of way include the additional 75 feet of width needed for the proposed line? If I owned property along this route, I would be unwilling to allow the existing deeded right of way to be expanded on my property.
Captain Planet. You are not going to stop people from smoking pot. It’s not devils lettuce. In the Bible I thought god gave us herbs to help us and to enjoy them. Just like when you enjoy a good alcoholic beverage. But wait that’s ok isn’t it. Because it’s legal. Same with the ten prescription your on everyday, but that’s ok because a doctor subscribed them to you. For the power line no one benefits this besides the higher ups, town employees to push for it and other grease balls that need to be greasing. (Janet mills) we said no we mean it.
Born, sorry the lettuce reference was for the benefit of another regular commenter. And I like pot, I’m glad God is on board!