Corrected: The original article incorrectly stated some of the town’s communication with Selectman Kim Andersson.

The Wiscasset Select Board was unsure why candidates for town office were told they needed to return their nomination papers by April 9. Selectmen Ben Rines Jr. and Kimberly Andersson brought the matter up when the board met April 21. Both Rines and Andersson are running for re-election and returned their papers. Town Clerk Linda Perry did not participate in the teleconference meeting. 

Rines said a decision by the town clerk to stick with the April 9 deadline was at odds with the board’s March 31 decision postponing both the 2020 town meeting and election of officers. Uncertainties related to the COVID-19 pandemic also caused the board to stop work on the 2020-21 budget and delay printing of the annual town report.

Rines said he got a call the afternoon of April 9 from the town clerk telling him if he wanted to be on the ballot, he would have to have his nomination papers returned to the town office by 5 p.m. that day.

Still to be determined was whether Rines, Andersson and the other candidates who turned in nomination papers and had them verified have qualified for the 2020 ballot. Rines was of the opinion they should be tossed out.

“I think we should all have to start over,” he said.

Colby agreed. “I thought that’s what was intended when we passed the (March 31) motion.”

At one point, O’Connell said he and Perry had discussed holding the town election during the state primary which had recently been rescheduled from June to mid-July due to the pandemic. By statute, the date for holding the town election would have to be set by the select board. The board hasn’t set a new date for the town election or when they plan to resume work on next year’s budget.

Before taking further action, the board asked O’Connell to meet with the town clerk and seek a legal opinion from the town attorney. The issue will be discussed again at the board’s next meeting.

Earlier April 21, Wiscasset Newspaper emailed the town clerk seeking clarification. On April 22, Perry replied she was just getting back into the office and referred questions to the town manager.

Citizens’ petition accepted

A referendum question seeking repeal of the town’s historic preservation ordinance will be on the ballot of the town election. Selectmen unanimously accepted a citizens’ petition. The town clerk verified 209 signatures; 189 were required to bring the question to a town-wide vote.

Judy Flanagan, a former select board and budget committee member, led the petition effort. The question’s wording is the same as one used in a previous repeal effort which failed in November 2017.

Flanagan said the preservation ordinance has a number of ambiguities. A certificate of appropriateness is required for renovations and structural improvements for homes and businesses in the town’s historic district. Flanagan said the commissioners charged with administering it assumed too much authority in their interpretation of the ordinance. By statute, Flanagan said, the referendum had to be voted on at the annual town election.

“I just feel Wiscasset can do better,” she commented to Wiscasset Newspaper. Eight other residents helped circulate the petitions.

Pandemic fuels loss in investment portfolio

The drop the pandemic caused in the financial markets has negatively impacted Wiscasset’s endowment and reserve accounts managed by the Portland investment firm of HM Payson. According to a document the town office released, at the close of the stock market March 31, the town’s endowments had fallen from $3.75 million in January to $3.17 million. These include the Larrabee and Mary Bailey funds and the Cemetery Trust.

Wiscasset’s capital reserve accounts, which stood at a little over $12 million on Jan. 31 had fallen to $10.1 million at the closing of the stock exchange March 31.

“We’ve lost over $2 million in the last two months. We could have done a lot with that. But this is no time to be taking money out,” commented Rines. For the last several years, the select board has taken interest earned on its investments to buy equipment and make other capital improvements.

In his monthly report, EMS/EMA Director Dennis Simmons expressed the ambulance department’s gratitude to Ames True Value, Maine Yankee and Molnlycke/Rynel for their help obtaining much needed personal protective supplies for the pandemic.

Simmons noted, Wiscasset Woods Lodge on Route 1 has offered its facility as a place for first responders and other healthcare workers who have been exposed to the virus to self-quarantine so as not to spread the disease to their families.

New business licenses were approved for Daniel Dyer, dba The Barnhouse Grill & Pub, 690 Bath Road, and Pepper Powers, dba Bath Ale Works, LLC, 691 Bath Road.

O’Connell said the transfer station had returned to its regular hours and was again taking brush, scrap metal, wood and demolition debris. Andersson asked the town manager for more information about Coastal Resources of Maine, the Bangor company processing the town’s trash. CRM’s website states CRM can process up to 180,000 tons of single stream trash and recycling a year. The company converts the trash into recycled product and engineered fuels instead of going into the landfill, it states.

According to CRC’s website, their “One Bin – All In” procedure requires cardboard boxes and packages to be broken down and food/liquid containers, especially plastic ones, to be emptied and rinsed; caps can be left on. Among the items prohibited from the trash hopper are batteries, yard waste, grass, tree limbs, wood products, Styrofoam, tires, furniture, carpeting, clothing, glass and metal. A complete list is at coastalresourcesme.com

At O’Connell’s suggestion, the board will begin meeting once a week: Every Tuesday at 4:30. The next meeting will be on April 28. The board may discuss the limited reopening of the town office.