Mayo Mill Dam DEP permit hearing will be Monday evening

DOVER-FOXCROFT — A public hearing on the Mayo Mill Dam will be at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, July 20, in the meeting room at the town office. The meeting had mistakenly been scheduled for the week prior, Dover-Foxcroft Town Manager Alsina Brenenstuhl said during a Monday evening Select Board meeting.

The July 20 session will inform the public of the Atlantic Salmon Federation’s intent to submit a permit application to Maine Department of Environmental Protection under the Maine Waterway Development and Conservation Act for the proposed removal of the downtown Mayo Mill Dam on the Piscataquis River. The hearing will provide information about the anticipated environmental impacts and the opportunity to submit comments to the DEP during the application processing period.

Last month the Select Board accepted a $25,000 grant from The Nature Conservancy to help draft a request for proposals to develop riverside amenities. The Nature Conservancy and the Atlantic Salmon Federation are working with the town to remove the dam and restore the town’s riverfront. Plans will be developed and the area could connect to nearby Monument Square.

After years of research, including work by two separate dam committees, in June 2025 residents voted 659-297 not to authorize the Select Board to borrow up to $9 million for the retention and repair of the dam. The Select Board was given the go-ahead to work with external partners to remove the Mayo Mill Dam.

The dam surrender application is submitted to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and review takes about 18-24 months.

Permitting could be complete by 2027 and then the removal project can go to bid with an eye on the summer of 2028 for work. The schedule is subject to change.

Leaving the dam as is was not an option. The structure was obtained by the town after a mill closure in 2007 and it has not complied with federal regulations for more than a decade. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission cited multiple structural deficiencies in a study. Ideas of retrofitting the dam and using it for hydroelectric power were deemed too expensive.

Had residents approved repairing the dam, the $9 million price tag would have been spread out across 25 years, with a 5% interest rate, putting the project cost at $14,107,600, including $5,107,600 in interest. The projected annual cost would have been $664,000.

In other business, the Select Board heard a proposal from the Climate Action Advisory Committee to temporarily ban data centers in town for 180 days while the  Maine Data Center Advisory Council works to regulate future projects. 

In the spring Gov. Janet Mills, D-Maine vetoed a bill that would have placed an 18-month statewide ban on large-scale data centers.

The council is investigating practices and safeguards concerning data center environmental impact, energy resources and economic development, Carole Boothroyd of the Climate Action Advisory Committee said. Its report is due in early 2027.

A pause in issuing any permits in Dover-Foxcroft on data center projects of 10 megawatts or greater is “a necessary and appropriate action in the best interest of residents and property owners in town,” Boothroyd said.

Any such proposals would first be taken up by the Select Board’s administrative committee before coming before the full board. Town officials would need to involve legal counsel in developing any documents.

More than a decade ago, Dover-Foxcroft paused large-scale projects in regard to a proposed east-west highway across the state. This provided some still applicable text in the land use ordinance.

“Which provides us protection from very large projects coming and steamrolling their way in,” Select Chair Steve Grammont said.

The town’s electrical infrastructure may not be the most conducive for a large data center, he said. 

“We’re probably not at the top of the list which gives us some time,” Grammont said.

When asked, he said extensions to 180-day bans can be granted “as long as we can legitimately prove we are working on it and need time.”

The three-way stop at the intersection of North and Summer streets will remain while the Essex Street bridge is closed through late 2027, Brenenstuhl said.

A regional traffic planner reviewed the site and traffic data and made the decision.

The Maine Department of Transportation will review areas in town experiencing problems caused by the bridge closure and see if there are solutions to issues such as speeding and heavier than normal vehicle counts through residential areas.

The previous Saturday the Kiwanis Club of Dover-Foxcroft held a Kiwanis Park fundraising kickoff.

The event was well attended with many young families enjoying various activities, Brenenstuhl said.

The Kiwanis Club will continue to raise funds to renovate the recreation area and Brenenstuhl is looking into grant opportunities.