Several Greenville land use permit fees adjusted

GREENVILLE — Per a recommendation from the code enforcement officer and the planning board, the Greenville Select Board approved four changes to land use ordinance permit fees during a Nov. 21 meeting.

Planning Board Chair John Contreni said he was representing Code Enforcement Officer Ron Sarol who could not stay for the select meeting after the preceding planning board session. “We have been talking about land use permit fees for some time now and it was Ron’s feeling that we need to adjust some of them,” Contreni said.

Providing the select board with a list of current land use permit fees and Sarol’s proposal, Contreni said, “We discussed this at the planning board meeting and we endorsed Ron’s proposal 5-0, so it was unanimous, but we don’t have the authority to set these fees, you do.”

The four adjustments include increasing the fee for a habitable finished structure to 40 cents a square foot with a minimum of $20 for the permit and increasing a nonhabitable, unfinished structure to 30 cents a square foot with a minimum of $15.

“Ron says that some of these non-finished structures, like sheds and decks, the fee’s like $3.80 and it’s just not worth the paperwork,” Contreni said.

“The town approved a new fence permit but we never authorized a fee for it and tonight we are suggesting a fee of $25,” he said.

The fourth adjustment would be raising the demolition permit fee to $50 from $25.

“Whenever someone wants to demolish something like a garage or deck or a house,” the planning board chair said.

Town Manager Mike Roy said the application process is how the assessor is notified of changes to property structures.

When asked, Contreni said land use permit uses had not been revised during his six years on the planning board. Selectperson Richard Peat suggested an annual review moving forward

In other business, Roy said that FEMA has assessed damage from a storm last December with this totaling $358,788 for five roads. The agency will reimburse 75 percent of costs for a $269,091/$89,697 split between FEMA and the town.

Roy said it was a lot of work over the last 11 months, “but I am very pleased to see that number.”

Another $74,000 is earmarked for additional culvert work, with this to hopefully be bid out this winter.

“So very good news I thought from FEMA,” Roy said.

The town manager said two nights prior he attended the annual hearing on the proposed 2025 Piscataquis County budget and 2025-26 Unorganized Territory budget.

The proposed 2025 county budget totals $6,694,951, an increase of $77,421 (1.7 percent) from the current year’s $6,617,530. The 2025-26 UT budget shows a proposed $2,658,725 total, a $190,050 increase from the current fiscal year.

Roy said the county commissioners can now look over the two spending plans. If they would look to increase or decrease either then the budget committee would need to be reconvened in order to review the proposals.

 A memo at the hearing said the amounts do not include negotiations with the union which are ongoing.

“So that process is not quite done yet,” Roy said.

The commissioners need to hold a special meeting to adopt both budgets on or before Dec. 15. The budget needs to be approved 16 days before the end of the fiscal year.

The second regular December meeting of the commissioners would be on Tuesday, Dec. 17 or past this deadline.

After nearly $757,000 in revenues have been applied, the $6,694,951 county budget would equal $5,937,978 to be raised through taxes or a $459,587 (about 8 percent) increase. This is divided between $4.1 million-plus for the county and just over $1.8 million for the UTs, an approximate 69.7/30.3 percent split.

Each of the 18 Piscataquis County communities would see an increase in its proportional share of the budget, which are based on valuation. The largest is Greenville’s $797,684 assessment, up by $125,460 for 13.43 percent of the municipalities’ county tax. Greenville has a state valuation of over $493 million, the highest in the county.