During a contentious meeting at the Wiscasset Historic Preservation Commission on April 6, the commission agreed to write a letter to selectmen to advise them the Maine Department of Transportation downtown project would require a certificate  of appropriateness before it it could proceed.

After an email went out purportedly from someone named Danielle Harrison, stating  that “During Thursday’s meeting of the Wiscasett [sic] Historic Preservation Committee (4/6, 5:00 p.m.), there will be an attempt to derail the MDOT project,” the meeting was packed with media, including local newspapers and television, as well as a representative from Maine Department of Transportation, one of Wiscasset’s town attorneys, and the attorney for the Ralph H. Doering family, who own several rental parcels downtown, including the Wawenock Block and Bermuda Isles on opposite sides of Main Street.

During the public comment section of the agenda, Attorney Robert Hark, representing the Doerings, stepped up with a presentation in which he restated his legal position that MDOT required a certificate of appropriateness to move forward with the project, and also restated his position that the angled parking spaces in front of his client’s properties were covered by the Historic Preservation Ordinance. For the next 30 minutes, the commission argued about the proper procedure to provide MDOT with the information that it was required to apply for a certificate. Town Planner Ben Averill said the commission did not have the authority to speak for the town and that if it wished to have the information sent to MDOT, it would have to go through the Board of Selectmen.  John Reinhardt, chair of the commission, was not in favor of writing a letter at all. “I feel that it’s not the way to go about that, but that’s just my feeling,” he said. “You all have your own minds, and if you want it to go that way, I will write the letter.”

In the end, the commission voted 4-1 to send a letter to the board advising it that MDOT is required to apply for a certificate once the project is designed.

Ernie Martin, of MDOT, could not be reached immediately for comment.

The first action of the commission was to go into executive session. Richard Thompson requested it to discuss a “personnel matter.” Since the commission has no personnel of its own, the purpose of the executive session was unclear, and no light was shed when the commission returned to the boardroom.

Ignoring questions from the press, the commission moved on with the agenda, which included three requests for certificates of appropriateness.

In the case of 4 Fort Hill Street, where Celeste Edwards erected a fence last fall without a certificate, the commission denied her request for the fence, which James Cochan said was not appropriate for a federal building, despite Edwards’ presentation of a historic image of a similar-looking fence surrounding the property. The commission did, however, approve her side door and would approve her front door renovation. If the door is not salvageable, she will have to return to ask for another certificate to have a new door constructed. Cochan wanted to require Edwards to remove the new fence, but Averill said the commission had no enforcement authority, and said that instead, a letter would have to be drafted to the Code Enforcement Officer, informing Edwards the fence was not in compliance. The CEO would have to apply to the Board of Selectmen for a remedy. Cochan said that his reading of the Historic Preservation Ordinance was different, and the two spent five minutes reading portions of the ordinance to each other.

The second certificate was for the property at 1 Union Street owned by Jennifer Morgan, who wanted to convert a former shop into a second living unit by adding a small porch and new door on the Washington Street side of the property, and also adding two parking spaces on that side of the house. After some discussion, the plan was approved as presented.

The third certificate was for 25 Middle Street, owned by Kathleen Kennedy, who wanted to add a door on the side of the building with a small set of stairs to allow the residents access to the coach house where the only parking space is. The request was tabled when Cochan said he couldn’t approve it without a detailed sketch of the small staircase. Kennedy said she was not happy about having to lose an entire month of work to come to the next meeting in May.

Additional work on making corrections to the Historic Preservation Ordinance was tabled owing to the lateness of the hour, which meant the changes are unlikely to receive all the approvals necessary from the Ordinance Review Committee and the Select Board to be presented at town meeting.