Dexter council approves dog areas at the beach

DEXTER — During its summer meetings the Dexter Town Council have discussed how dogs and their owners and other recreators at the Lake Wassookeag public beach and recreation area can all share the space. In order for designated room to be set aside an ordinance change was needed to the article on parks, recreation areas, and cemeteries, and this vote was taken during a Sept. 12 meeting.

“This is where we are designating an area for the dogs at the beach,” Council Chair Marica Delaware said.

The ordinance amendment specifies that dogs are only permitted in the designated areas which includes the small boat ramp and west of the bathhouse. The pets are not permitted on the beach.

When asked, Town Manager Trampas King said there are currently signs posted indicating where dogs are prohibited but there are none where the animals are allowed and signage will be posted in the future.

In other business, the council signed a contract with Eastern Maine Development Corp. to update the town’s comprehensive plan.

“We had quite a presentation and discussion at the last meeting,” Delaware 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 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 its August 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) last month. 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 in August that 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.

The current comprehensive plan is posted on the town website under the town council listing at https://www.dextermaine.org/town-council-1.