Despite the television cameras, the build up and the small crowd that came Wednesday, Sept. 17 to the Damariscotta special town meeting, the moratorium passed without a comment.

The small crowd that came to vote on putting a temporary ban on adult-themed entertainment voted almost unanimously for a 180-day ban while an ordinance is drafted.

The moratorium would have simply given the town time to draft an ordinance to decide where an adult-themed business could set up shop, Town Manager Matt Lutkus said.

Also announced at the meeting: The Waldoboro business that had begun preliminary investigations into moving south had indicated that it planned to stay in Waldoboro, Lutkus said.

“That does not preclude the need to establish an ordinance here in Damariscotta,” Lutkus said.

Towns cannot outright ban adult-themed entertainment, but through ordinances can regulate how close they can be to schools, churches and parks.

The board of selectmen can, if needed, extend the moratorium out another 180 days, making it a full year.

Update on pre-fire plans

When the Damariscotta Fire Department enters a building, the last thing they want is a surprise, Damariscotta Fire Chief John Roberts said. Even better would be an idea of where to find the house's inhabitants during an emergency.

That was the reasoning behind the pre-fire plan that was distributed to Damariscotta property owners in the past year. Roberts said during the Wednesday, Sept. 17 Damariscotta selectmen’s meeting approximately 60 pre-fire plans have been filled out by homeowners in the past year.

“As we enter a structure, a lot of the time we're not familiar with the homes,” he said. “That's the reason this would be useful; hopefully, we'd be less likely to get lost.”

The pre-fire plans are a questionnaire about the general facts about each structure, and even has a section where Roberts encouraged property-owners to fill out a sketch area, so firefighters will have a better idea of where to go in a fire.

“This way, we might know where potential victims are; where an established water supply might be; where emergency gas shut-offs might be,” he said.

Roberts said that firefighters will be able to use the information before setting out to an emergency, which gives the department an advantage. He added that if enough pre-fire plans were turned in to the fire department they would consider uploading the information digitally, to be uploaded by each vehicle.

“Some people have been worried about privacy,” Roberts said. “But these will not be used for any other purpose.”

Roberts and the fire department also recently learned that the Safety & Health Award for Public Employees (SHAPE) would again be heading to Massasoit Drive.

“We were the first entity in Lincoln County (to earn the award) four years ago, and we'll be the first (in Lincoln County) on their four-year program,” he said. “That means our next inspection will be in 2018.”

The award is given out by the Maine Department of Labor's to public entities that exemplify a safe and healthy workplace.

The department has had three inspections in the last four years, but has passed each one.

“I'm extremely proud of the effort; it really is a reflection of all the members of the fire department,” Roberts said.