In a 4-0 vote Sept. 18, Woolwich selectmen appointed Town Administrator Kim Dalton tax collector. Selectman Alison Hepler was absent.

Chairman David King Sr. said the board’s action followed a legal recommendation from Maine Municipal Association. “They told us we had to appoint a tax collector until such time as we filled the position. Kim having previously served as our tax collector was the natural choice,” King said Thursday morning.

Dalton also serves as town treasurer. She will remain tax collector until the next hire completes their six-month probationary period, added King.

“MAA told us a deputy tax collector couldn’t fill the position,” King explained. 

Dalton said the tax collector opening is being advertised on MMA’s website and the town’s Facebook page. She said property tax bills were about to be mailed out and would include a schedule for curbside recycling pickup.

In other news, the board will include two referendum questions on Central Maine Power’s New England Clean Energy Connect (NECEC) at the Nov. 5 general election. Town Clerk Chelsea Lane informed the board Sept. 16, petitioners had collected enough signatures.

King told the Wiscasset Newspaper the board suggested having the questions at the general election, rather a special town meeting as petitioners had sought. “After the petition was verified we had the town clerk contact them and they agreed to have the questions decided at the polls. We thought having it at the general election would get a bigger response,” he said.

The petitioners requested two separate articles. The first reads: “To see if the Town will vote to oppose the Central Maine Power (CMP) New England Clean Energy Connect (NECEC) 145 Mile Hydro-electric Transmission Line Project from Quebec border through the State of Maine?”

The second one reads: “To see if the Town will vote to authorize the Selectmen to submit a letter of opposition to: Central Maine Power (CMP) New England Clean Energy Connect (NECEC), Maine Public Utilities Commission, Maine Department of Environmental Protection, and Maine Land Use Planning Commission; on behalf of the Inhabitants of the Town of Woolwich in the event that Article #1 is passed with a YES vote?”

The estimated $950 million project would include upgrading of a transmission corridor from Windsor into Woolwich and Wiscasset.