Wiscasset selectmen Nov. 7 agreed to appeal in Lincoln County Superior Court last month’s Maine Board of Environmental Protection decision in Maine Yankee’s favor. Oct. 19, the BEP upheld Maine Department of Environmental Protection’s decision to exempt from taxes Maine Yankee’s canisters that hold spent nuclear fuel, the casks that hold them, and the pads the casks sit on.

Selectmen’s 5-0 vote to file the court appeal followed an executive session of about 19 minutes, according to Chair Sarah Whitfield’s post-meeting email.

Also Nov. 7 in the meeting at the town office and over Zoom and YouTube, selectmen decided they will voice displeasure, in writing, at the moved timeline for work to finish on the Wawenock building, 63 Main St. In an email hours before the meeting, Wawenock LLC lawyer Sandra Guay told the town “restoration other than the outside masonry has been completed ... Masonry Preservation ... moved the timeline ... into late winter or early spring and ... the owner was therefore seeking out an alternate mason to complete the work in a more timely fashion.”

Guay continued, “As of (Nov. 6), the project contractor had met with several masonry contractors. It is my understanding that one of these contractors is in the process of providing a timeline for start and completion which should be ready in the next week or so. A rough estimate at this time is six to eight weeks to complete the masonry once work begins, moving the timeline goal for completion from mid-November to sometime during the first quarter of 2024. I will update you on this as soon as I have a more specific timeline.

“I want to re-emphasize that Wawenock LLC is doing everything it possibly can to get this renovation work completed so that the building can be re-utilized.  The decision to seek a new masonry contractor, rather than wait for Masonry Preservation to come back to complete the work, is reflective of this,” Guay wrote.

“One more Christmas season with the (work site) down there, downtown (in) our Dickensian village,” Selectman Terry Heller said. 

Resident Susan Blagden asked via Zoom how the masonry could get done in the first quarter, since that is still winter. Town Manager Dennis Simmons said it was his understanding masonry can be done in winter using heat and something added to the mortar.

After getting an earlier timeframe from Guay, the board months ago held off sending a town lawyer’s letter to Wawenock owner Ralph Doering and instead regularly revisit the idea. Nov. 7, Blagden asked why the town is spending money on lawyers if not taking their advice. Town Manager Dennis Simmons responded, the town lawyer’s letter, drafted with help from Selectman William “Bill” Maloney and him, would not have been taking legal action; it would have warned of it.

The letter was “just saying that if he doesn’t complete this project within a certain timeframe, we’ll take him to court,” Simmons said. “And we all know that the court is going to take probably longer than the timeline (Wawenock has) been giving us, even though they keep kicking it down the road, I’m beginning to wonder if that’s going to be the case, but we have (unrelated) land use violations that are in court right now that have been there two years. And this one certainly will not get there any sooner.”

Blagden later asked why the town cannot or does not “do something” Whitfield told her, “Unfortunately, we don’t really have a lot of options. That’s the biggest problem ... We can take them to court and that’s not going to speed up the process. It’s just going to cost the town money.”

Heller suggested selectmen send a letter expressing “our great displeasure.” Silence is being permissive, she said. Whitfield said she does not feel they have been silent. “It’s been in the paper, that we’re not happy,” Whitfield said. Simmons planned to draft a letter for the board’s review. Selectman Pam Dunning doubted it would make a difference, “but it doesn’t hurt to send something.”

The board met Wiscasset’s new economic development director, Aaron Chrostowsky, who Simmons said last worked 10 years as Wayne town manager. Selectmen named Deborah Morgan to the climate action team; accepted a $10,000 donation from Garden Club of Wiscasset to rebuild the Sunken Garden’s brick walkway and put any leftover funds toward future needs there; and accepted an anonymous $25,000 donation to Wiscasset Community Center for projects Simmons said include an equipment buy and replacing event chairs and tables.