Town ballot set for Nov. 3

By Stuart Hedstrom

Staff Writer

DOVER-FOXCROFT — When Dover-Foxcroft residents head to the polls on Tuesday, Nov. 3  they will have three community-specific articles to vote on. “Our town ballot is one of three,” Town Manager Jack Clukey said during an Oct. 12 selectmen’s meeting, adding the other two items are the state warrant and a county-wide question concerning a funding package for a new sheriff’s office building.

The first Dover-Foxcroft warrant article concerns the town’s participation in the Community Based Renewable Energy Pilot Program for energy production at the mill complex downtown using solar and hydroelectric power. The program has been reopened and the Public Utilities Commission will accept applications, which require a vote or resolution of support from the town’s legislative body.

The next article asks if an ordinance concerning the authorization of deputy appointments shall be adopted, such as for the issuing of a building permit when the code enforcement officer is unavailable or if a position is vacant for a period of time.

The last of the three articles asks to refinance remaining wastewater debt. Since the wording was approved by the selectmen earlier in the fall, news came in that new stipulations pertaining to the ability of the Maine Municipal Bond Bank to refinance the wastewater debt are in place. As a result, town officials very well may not be able to get the debt refinanced even if the article is approved on Nov. 3.

In other business, Selectman Jane Conroy asked about a  parking ban directly in front of the Mill Inn & Cafe on East Main Street and who would be responsible to post this information. Clukey said such signage would fall under the town’s jurisdiction and this area, which features a travel lane and curbed sidewalk, would be added to the list of no parking zones.

Later in the meeting, Clukey said he met with the Maine Department of Transportation (MDOT) to discuss traffic at the larger mill property. He said the traffic pattern is designed to have the entrance be by the Mill Inn & Cafe on East Main Street “and the out is all the way down and around and out our parking lot by the church.” Clukey added that the developer would put up signs alerting drivers of this information.

He said the MDOT intends to put up a sign near the entrance saying no left turn off of East Main Street into the complex. “It’s just going to require people to come east to make that turn,” he said, so traffic does not get backed in the westbound lane. A timetable, such as only in the morning and afternoon before and after school, was not mentioned, but this could be put in place down the road.

In August the selectmen approved a proposal by Gorrill Palmer for a paving management plan and Clukey said the firm would be starting its work later in the week. “They will come back for a meeting we have them at and they will do a presentation,” he said.

According to the proposal made by Gorrill Palmer, the 46 miles of local paved roads in Dover-Foxcroft would be assessed as part of the project. The firm’s report would collect field data and discuss potential treatment options for the various sections of roads and estimated construction costs, criteria for prioritizing the construction of treatment options and a 15-year improvement and maintenance plan.