Voters will get another chance to weigh in on Maine Department of Transportation’s $5 million downtown traffic improvement plan. Wiscasset selectmen voted unanimously Tuesday night to include a referendum question on the June 13 ballot. A recently filed petition called for the question.

The town office sought a legal opinion on the petition filed by the Wiscasset Taxpayers Alliance, a group formed in response to the downtown project. Attorney Shana Cook Mueller of Bernstein Shur was asked to clarify what selectmen could do from a procedural standpoint to include the referendum. The board approved the warrant April 4 but it had not been posted yet.

In an April 10 email to Town Manager Marian Anderson, Mueller stated because the warrant hadn’t been posted, the board could simply vote to include the referendum question. She further noted there is a public hearing requirement for referendum questions under 30-A MRSA 2528(5). Mueller added, the petitioners have asked for a ‘binding’ vote to disapprove and reject the changes to the MDOT project, but that the state may be under no obligation to do so.

“While MDOT is required by statute to include the public in the process of designing its project, it is not necessarily required to receive permission from the voters of the Town of Wiscasset to proceed with a particular design. Thus, there is an argument to be made that this petition suggests to voters that they have authority that they do not have,” she continues.  “It is also possible that MDOT would not choose to give credence to this petition, even if it passed at the polls.” 

Mueller cautions in the letter, “If the Board of Selectmen chooses to move this petition forward to a town vote, they should understand and acknowledge that MDOT may well not respond to the results of the vote in the same fashion as the voters might expect, given that MDOT is not necessarily bound by a town meeting vote on the design of its project.”

The petition filed April 6 contained 207 signatures and was certified by Town Clerk Linda Perry the following morning; 179 signatures were required to bring the proposal to a referendum vote.

The question, as worded in the petition, asks voters to reject MDOT project changes made without the consent of Wiscasset voters following the June 2016 non-binding referendum in support of option 2. The changes include proceeding without federal funding and failure to comply with Section 106 of a federal statute on historic preservation, the petition states. The referendum further asks voters consider maintenance and other costs to the community resulting from the project and also questions MDOT’s decision to curtail construction of a parking lot adjacent to the Creamery (Main Street) Pier.

Also Tuesday, Selectman Ben Rines Jr. asked for further discussion on a $380,000 debt owed to the school department. The town office proposes paying the money in installments but Rines wants to know what the impact will be on the tax rate. “I still don’t know where the money’s going to come from,” he told the newspaper Tuesday morning.

Why the town owes the money is another question troubling Rines. He wants to clear the debt from the town books but said he’s reluctant to take monies from the fund balance to do so. “We had planned to use that money to help reduce this year’s tax commitment,” he commented.

At the select board’s April 4 meeting, Treasurer Shari Fredette explained the $380,000 was not included in an estimate done by the financial manager of RSU 12. The amount concerns monies owed by the town during the RSU withdrawal process; according to Fredette the town didn’t fully pay what was required because the tax commitment on which the debt was based was incomplete.

Selectmen agreed to discuss the issue in more depth at a future meeting.

In his monthly report to selectmen, EMS Director Toby Martin noted the Wiscasset Ambulance Service had made 60 runs in March; 26 were out-of-town. These included ambulance calls to Damariscotta, 2; Edgecomb, 6; Westport, 8; Woolwich, 6; Dresden, 2; and Brunswick, 2. Martin said he’d recently added Benjamin Huebert of Bath to the ambulance service. Huebert has advance EMT certification and is employed full-time with North East Mobile Health Services. Martin also noted he had submitted a proposal to Dresden selectmen about providing ambulance services to their  town.

Police Chief Jeffrey Lange reported the department responded to 712 calls in March– an increase of 219 (44.4 percent) in one month. Most, 317, were for property checks. Police made 110 motor vehicle stops and responded to three 911 calls. One assault, three civil complaints, five harassment complaints and 12 juvenile problems were reported in March.  Lange noted the department would be conducting joint training exercises with Maine Yankee security. Lang recently attended a meeting hosted by Maine Yankee security. Officials from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission were there to discuss potential threats to nuclear facilities.

Doug Fowler, public works director, noted about 20 percent remains of the highway department’s winter sand supply. He noted a great deal of sand was used to deal with icy conditions at winter’s outset.

Following a public hearing, selectmen approved a liquor license (beer and wine) along with a business license for Shawn Elliott of Round Pond, dba Lighthouse Buffet at 506 Old Bath Road.

After reviewing a list of unpaid property taxes selectmen voted to give 60-day notice to the ones who have not made a payment in the last year. The board will then move forward with foreclosure procedures.

Anderson said applications close for hiring a new parks and recreation director on April 24. Selectman Larry Gordon, Jeff Slack and Chair Judy Colby will interview the finalists.

Prior to the start of the regular meeting, selectmen met in executive session to discuss a personnel matter. No action was taken when they opened their regular meeting afterward.