Dexter to update comprehensive plan

DEXTER — In 2012 the town of Dexter adopted a comprehensive plan, and the document was revised in 2018 with an assessment and update of policies, goals, and strategies. The time has come for the comprehensive plan to be fully updated, as the town council learned more during an Aug. 8 meeting.

“Every 10 years the state requires a town or city to write a comprehensive plan,” said Eastern Maine Development Corp. Regional Planner Hope Eye (the organization would work with the town). She said the document’s 13 chapters “showcase what the town is doing, what the town does, and what the town hopes to do in the next 10 years.”

Eye said the state needs consistency in comprehensive plans so there is a checklist for communities to use when updating their documents. She said despite the requirements, she finds the updating process to be a fun energizer to get people thinking about their community and what they would like to see happen in the future.

EMDC Senior Director of Planning and Development Jennifer King said comprehensive plans are required to have a section of goals and strategies, often communities list how far they have gotten. “It’s a nice way to see how your town is doing in the 10-year process,” she said.

Eye said a 5- to 10-member committee would work on comprehensive plan updates, utilizing survey data from residents. A decade-plus ago more than 230 Dexter citizens provided data.

“The process takes about a year,” she said, with the committee potentially meeting monthly and the state review process taking about three months.

“Right now you are considered consistent, but it will expire in June of next year,” King said about the current comprehensive plan.

She was asked what happens if a town is not considered consistent. If so, then the municipality is less apt to be qualified for federal or state grant funding and a comprehensive plan must be in place in order to update zoning ordinances.

“This is a great opportunity to learn more,” Town Manager Trampas King said. He said the current comprehensive plan is posted on the town website under the town council listing (https://www.dextermaine.org/town-council-1).

“It shows you what they were thinking of in 2012,” he added.

The town manager said the economic development fund has around $77,000 which would be more than enough to cover all the expenses pertaining to a comprehensive plan update.

In other business, the council dedicated the pilot’s lounge at the new Dexter Regional Airport terminal building to Airport Manager Roger Nelson.

King said in his six years on the job he has benefited greatly from Nelson and the rest of the municipal airport committee. He said the group is at the airport every morning for coffee and they have always been a great resource for him.

“He’s very important to me up there, they all are,” King said.

For the last several meetings councilors have been discussing how dogs and their owners and other recreators at the Lake Wassookeag public beach and recreation area can all share the space.

A plan has an area set aside for dogs, and to enact this then there would need to be an ordinance change to the article on parks, recreation areas, and cemeteries. The council voted to schedule a public hearing on the matter for next month’s agenda.

The Dexter Development Association and others have been working to revitalize the space and King said an inaugural Dexter Beach Bash is planned for 12-7 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 24. The event will include two live bands, children’s activities, and more.

King mentioned much of the parking area behind Dexter Ace Hardware on Main Street is owned by the town, approximately 70 percent. He said the store would like to pave its section and checked in to see if the entire parking lot could be redone at the same time, possibly at a $30,000/$70,000 split.

The town manager wondered if the town’s property could be turned over to Dexter Ace Hardware or sold at a minimal cost. He said the value is around $10,000.

“So we will get the tax value and it will save us $70,000,” King said, saying the town would also no longer have to plow and maintain its portion of the parking lot.

“I think it’s an opportunity for us to help a business owner and release the burden to us,” he said. He said he would research the matter more and come back to the council.