From wiscasset.gov: 

At the Nov. 3 referendum, Wiscasset voters will consider four proposals: an ordinance amendment concerning the Ordinance Review Committee; a new Fire Department Cost Recovery Ordinance; a temporary moratorium on new or expanded data center development; and a temporary moratorium limiting certain mobile home park lot rent increases. The ballot also contains a non-binding referendum question regarding a regional high school.

Ordinance Review Committee (ORC): Wiscasset has had difficulty recruiting volunteers for several boards and committees. This is not unique to Wiscasset. Communities elsewhere in Maine (are) also struggling to fill committee vacancies. Work, family responsibilities, and other commitments can limit the time residents have in preparing for and attending meetings. For the ORC, difficulty filling its six seats and obtaining the four members required for a quorum has delayed ordinance review. Lack of a quorum caused the ORC to cancel several meetings. These delays prevented the land use ordinance changes needed to comply with Maine's new housing law, LD 1829, from being placed on the Nov. 3 ballot as planned. The Town must bring its ordinances into compliance by July 1, 2027. A November vote would have allowed time to address voters' concerns, revise the amendments, and submit them for another vote if they were rejected. Waiting until June leaves little time before the compliance deadline.

The proposed amendment would eliminate the ORC and shift its duties to town staff. Town staff would prepare draft ordinances and amendments, with review and discussion by the Selectboard at public meetings.

The Town's stated reason for the change is that it now has sufficient professional, paid staff to research and draft ordinances, with legal review as needed. Selectboard meetings, in place of ORC meetings, would provide a forum for residents to ask questions, raise concerns, and suggest revisions. Applicable public hearing requirements and voter approval requirements would remain. Most of the Selectboard feel this change would result in higher public participation in the process.

Fire Department Cost Recovery: The cost of providing fire protection has risen sharply. Wiscasset has spent more than $ 1.3 million on new fire apparatus in recent years, representing a substantial investment by taxpayers. Nationally, documented municipal purchases show apparatus price increases of approximately 60% to 90% since 2020. Protective gear and other essential equipment have also become more expensive.

This ordinance would authorize the Town to recover actual Fire Department response costs for specified incidents through insurance claims or direct billing. Its stated purpose is to offset expenses for certain types of calls otherwise paid through the Fire Department budget. Similar ordinances are used in Maine and other state municipalities.

Covered incidents include hazardous materials and hazardous-waste cleanup; vehicle and aircraft crashes or fires; water-related emergencies within buildings (for example, flooded basements, broken sprinklers); utility-line standby resulting from vehicle crashes; and the third and subsequent false fire or sprinkler alarm at the same location (nuisance alarms caused by improper use of maintenance). 

The Fire Chief, in consultation with the Town Manager, would decide whether to assess all, some, or none of an eligible response's costs. Fees would be established by the Selectboard and based solely on actual Town costs. A third-party agency could handle billing and collection, with invoices payable within 30 days of receipt.

Fire Department services would not be denied or withheld because of a lack of insurance or refusal to pay.

Data Center Moratorium: This ordinance would temporarily stop the Town from accepting, processing, reviewing, or approving applications for new, enlarged, or expanded data centers. It would expire six months after enactment unless lifted earlier or extended under its stated conditions. It would apply to applications filed on or after Nov. 3, 2026.

The stated purpose is to allow the Town time to study potential impacts of data centers and determine whether additional local zoning and building standards are needed. The moratorium identifies electricity demand, water supply, wastewater capacity, noise, lighting, traffic, visual character, and municipal finances as subjects for review.

Town staff, appropriate committees, and outside resources would review existing ordinances and study these issues. Staff would report findings and recommended ordinance amendments to the Selectboard which would make the report public and determine whether and when to submit the proposals to the Planning Board for public hearings and before a Town Meeting.

The moratorium would not permanently prohibit data centers. It excludes equipment incidental to another business, routine maintenance or equipment replacement that does not expand an existing data center, and government information technology infrastructure used for governmental purposes. Extensions of no more than 180 days each would require findings that the need for the moratorium continues and reasonable progress is being made.

No proposals for a data center are under consideration at this time.

Mobile Home Park Rent Increase Moratorium: The proposed moratorium grew out of a request for a permanent ordinance regulating mobile home park lot-rent increases. In July, Eric Fleischmann of the Maine Labor Climate Council approached the Selectboard on behalf of park residents concerned about rising rents. He submitted a proposed rent-stabilization ordinance based on a state-developed model.

The Selectboard discussed the proposal at its Aug. 25 workshop. Members identified questions and concerns that required further review before a permanent ordinance could be put before voters. Following that discussion, the Town sought legal assistance in preparing a temporary moratorium that would limit covered rent increases while the issue was studied.

Park owners also asked to participate. Nick and Samantha Beers, owners of Maplewood Hill, described substantial expenditures to repair and improve aging infrastructure. They questioned whether restrictive rent limits would allow owners to cover operating costs and finance necessary improvements. They also disputed some statements made about their park's rent increases and maintenance.

The Board welcomed that feedback and clarified that it needed more time to hear the pros and cons of a permanent ordinance before presenting a permanent ordinance to the voters. The moratorium would provide time to examine residents' and owner's concerns, accept public comment, and determine whether any permanent local regulation is actually needed.

This moratorium would temporarily prohibit covered lot rent increases exceeding 3% above the rent charged on Sept. 1, 2026. It would cover tenants living in a park when the ordinance is enacted, including increases previously announced.

It provides for retroactive application to Sept. 1 and would expire six months after enactment unless extended under its stated conditions.

The stated concern is that large lot rent increases may displace residents who own their homes but rent the land beneath them. Moving a manufactured home can be expensive or impractical, limiting residents' alternatives.

The proposal excludes leases covering both a landlord-owned home and its lot, and resident-owned cooperative parks whose elected boards approve increases. Lot rent includes mandatory fixed fees but excludes utility, telephone, and broadband expenses. The Town Manager would enforce the moratorium; violations could result in a $200 fine per offense and an order to refund improperly charged increases. Each affected lot would (be a) separate offense. Adoption would not automatically establish permanent rent control.

Non-binding Referendum Question: Should Wiscasset explore the possibility of a single high school serving students from multiple area towns?

In recent years, there has been growing discussion in Wiscasset and neighboring communities about whether greater regional collaboration could help address some of the challenges facing our schools, including declining enrollment, rising costs, and the desire to provide students with a broad range of educational opportunities.

Wiscasset and the Boothbay Region previously worked together on an application to the Maine Department of Education to explore a consolidated grades 9-16 school. Although that particular proposal did not move forward, the process demonstrated enough interest in regional approaches that some community members and officials felt it was worth asking residents more broadly whether the conversation should continue. Wiscasset's own Future of the Schools Committee has also identified regionalization as one possible path toward long-term sustainability, while recognizing that it would require significant planning, collaboration, and community input.

That is the purpose of the non-binding question on Wiscasset's November ballot: "Should Wiscasset explore the possibility of a single high school serving students from multiple area towns?" This is a survey, or "straw vote," and does not authorize the consolidation of Wiscasset's schools, commit the town to a particular partner or location, or approve any spending or specific plan. Rather, it is intended to provide a clearer picture of whether Wiscasset residents are interested in having conversations with neighboring communities about what a regional high school might look like, whether it could expand opportunities for students, and whether there could be potential financial or operational benefits from working together. Any actual proposal that might emerge from those conversations would require considerably more study, public discussion, and the appropriate approval process before moving forward.