Town Council Minutes 11/10/2003

MINUTES
                          CUMBERLAND TOWN COUNCIL
                           MONDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2003

Roll Call - Chairman Porter and Councilors Damon, Storey, Kuntz, Moriarty and Stiles present.  Councilor Savasuk excused.

I.      APPROVAL OF MINUTES:
a)      October 27, 2003

II.     MANAGER'S REPORT:

III.    PUBLIC DISCUSSION:

IV.     LEGISLATION AND POLICY:

03  113.       To hold public hearing to consider and act on a Class 1A Hotel and
               Off-premise retail liquor licenses, a victualers license and Special
               Amusement Permit for the Chebeague Island Inn Acquisition
               Company, Inc., d/b/a Chebeague Inn.

               Attorney William Welch, representing owner Martha Dumont, responded to Councilor Damons question regarding the off-premise liquor license.  Pre-packaged food constituting box or picnic lunches and spirits will be available through the Inn.  Examples where this may occur are consumers who may take these on their boats and drive back home, or maybe go to another island or perhaps go to another picnic area.  But, the idea is they could buy it just like at a retail store.  Councilor Damon noted concerns about the neighborhood, for example, consumption on public beaches where kids are swimming and that kind of thing.  She also believes Ms. Dumont is working to operate her business as user friendly for the neighborhood and people are very excited about her plans.  Mr. Welch clarified that there is a distinction between the retail and on-premise license, in that youre certainly not allowed to buy an open container of alcohol.  The burden is on the server to make sure thats consumed on the premises.  A sealed container is a whole different animal together.  Councilor Stiles stated he has seen this arrangement in several places around the country, and it works real nice.   In response to the Special Amusement Permit, Mr. Welch described it as the same kind of permit that the previous owner had.  

        Motion by Councilor Stiles that the licenses be approved based upon final
        Inspections by the Code Enforcement Officer and Fire Chief;
        Seconded by Councilor Damon.
        VOTE:         UNANIMOUS 5-1  (Councilor Kuntz)


03  114.       To set date for public hearing to consider and act on application by
               Cumberland Salvage, Inc. for automobile graveyard/junkyard permit.

        Motion by Councilor Moriarty to set a December 8^th public hearing date;
        Seconded by Councilor Kuntz.
        VOTE:         UNANIMOUS 6-0

                                                                     
03  115.       To set date for public hearing to consider and act on application by
               Thomas Greenlaw for automobile graveyard/junkyard permit.

        Motion by Councilor Moriarty to set a December 8^th public hearing date;
        Seconded by Councilor Stiles.
        VOTE:         UNANIMOUS 6-0

03  116.       To set shellfish license allocations for 2004.

230 of the total 280 recreational licenses are offered for sale on the first working day of January so that non-resident island property owners are provided ample opportunity to purchase a shellfish license.  The remaining 50 licenses will be held and offered for sale on June 1^st. By then the harbormaster explained, the islanders have come back and gotten settled&so I think this will work well.  In the past theyve had to pursue the monthly licenses, which can best be described as a bother.

Chairman Porter clarified that the resident recreational licenses are available to both island and mainland residents. A resident is defined as anybody who pays taxes.  Councilor Damon was told that 50 in question would be accessible to the islanders for 90 days.  She also inquired as to the status of the senior citizen discount and requested this license category be noted in his report.  Ted Curtis explained there are limits on the number of licenses, so when a senior gets a license, its still counted as one of the licenses weve allocated but we dont charge them anything.    Councilor Damon asked how the 90 day maximum allotted to commercial licenses is verified.  Mr. Curtis explained that each licensee must submit their digging log each year.  We also dont have the resource to warrant somebody digging more than 90 days, so it hasnt been a problem.  Councilor Storey feels the fees are way too low&it ought to be supporting itself.  The harbormaster explained he would provide comparison fees for Yarmouth and Freeport prior to the public hearing.  

Motion by Councilor Kuntz to set a public hearing date of December 8, 2003;
Seconded by Councilor Moriarty.
VOTE:          UNANIMOUS 6-0

03  117.       To change the name of the Recycling Committee to the Solid Waste
               Advisory Committee.

               This request came from the Recycling Committee because they consider many solid waste issues in their deliberations.  Examples include use of the transfer stations and closing of land fills.  Recycling is a component of solid waste management and the manager supports the change.  Councilor Damon questioned whether a change is needed to the charge of the committee.  Mr. Shane believes it is unnecessary due to the
 generic nature of the charge.  Councilor Damon requested a review of the charge.
Chairman Porter believes the change is a semantic one.  In essence, theyve been providing solid waste input. The difference is that theyre just going into more detail.
In December a report will come before the council with a number of options for a reduction in solid waste, and hopefully save some money as well.

               Motion by Councilor Storey to change the name of the Recycling
               Committee to the Solid Waste Management Committee;
               Seconded by Councilor Stiles.
               VOTE:         UNANIMOUS 6-0

V.      CORRESPONDENCE:

Councilor Damon   Congratulated the Girls Volley Ball team, the Boys Cross Country team, and the Field Hockey team for their state championship wins.  Will Robinson was the state golf championship.  We should be proud of everyone.  Ive had rave reviews about the Cousins Island paving project.  Shes been asked if a light at the end of the wharf and the road coming down the hill could be installed.  
Councilor Storey  none
Councilor Kuntz  none
Chairman Porter  none
Councilor Moriarty  none
Councilor Stiles  none
Manager Shane  The leaf and brush facility will be closed on Veterans Day, but extended hours are offered this Saturday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.  He received a letter from Scott Poulin, Business Manager at SAD 51, regarding the appreciation by a member
of the senior housing for the screening and trees planted as part of the drainage project.  He received a letter today concerning parking issues on the wharf on Chebeague Island. Over 96 cars were parked at the lot today. He and Councilor Moriarty will discuss this issue with the Stone Wharf Committee.  

VI.     NEW BUSINESS:

Councilor  Damon   Announced that the play Oklahoma will be performed at Greely High School on November 20, 21, 22 and 23.  The hero and the villain both live on Chebeague.  The chedemption is a non-profit on Chebeague Island which receives donated returnables and the money is divided at the end of the year amongst 14 non-profits.
Councilor Storey   He commented regarding recent emails related to the fire truck escort for the winning school teams stating he agrees with the Managers responses.  He commented on the pay-per-bag concept stating its time we looked at it.  We pay for a lot of water and snow going to that recycling plant.  Its added up to a lot of tonnage.  He is interested in hearing the costs of a pay-per-bag program.  Chairman Porter responded that the committee will address this item during their report to the council on December 8^th.  Their plan is to lay out a bunch of options for the council to consider.  He also believes anywhere up to 30, 40, 50 cents on the mill rate depending on what we can do on our recycling efforts.  
Councilor Kuntz   none
Chairman Porter   He inquired as to combining the New Business and Correspondence sections of the agenda.  These will be combined for the next agenda.  He also commented on the fire departments escort of the volley balls return from Machias, noting he appreciates the comments hes received, however he sees no support on this council for changing that policy.  Its not often that we have as successful a day as we had that day.  Interviews will be held by the Nominating Committee this Thursday for the Rines Property Committee.  He is very encouraged by the many who applied.  He pointed out that the impact fee revenue has generated $57,000 in 2004.  We have issued 34 building permits in FY 03 of which 5 are on the island and 29 on the mainland. Of those 29, 27 are residential non-subdivision and 2 in subdivision.  He suggested the town needs a Twin Brook Advisory Committee to specifically address the use of this property so we can get everybody in there without destroying the fields we have now.  The current construct of the Lands & Conservation Committee is not a wide representation of community.  They are generally interested in conservation and land acquisition.  I dont just want soccer teams and lacrosse and cross-country; I also want folks from the Lands and Conservation Committee and the other broad section of town including dog owners and senior citizens, etcetera.  He believes that in order to accomplish this, it would be best to have a special committee.  
Councilor Moriarty  Received a letter from the Land Trust and asked if the fundraising for the Curit property was complete.  The goal has been reached.  He asked whether the Islands Committee is dealing with the Curit property.  He believes it would be appropriate to either establish a Curit property committee or assign this issue to the Islands Committee.  Chairman Porter suggested we need to know what our options are and he supports sending this to the Islands Committee.  Councilor Damon feels the council should work on the easement and then send it to the Islands Committee for review and comment.  Chairman Porter indicated the council is interested in the committees comments regarding the housing component, and not the easement. We want to know more about the housing aspect of it.  Manager Shane will work with Councilor Damon to get it headed in the right direction.  Councilor Moriarty stated if we have a large multiplicity of committees each doing very finely defined things and you get into overlap and competition, Im not sure thats a good idea.  I do think we have to figure out how were going to coordinate these different groups without&creating too many different competing groups.
Councilor Stiles  He would like to see the Rines Property Committee be a committee that proctors that property for much longer than a year suggesting staggered five-year appointments.
Manager Shane  The council will receive a complete list of town board/committee appointments. He will bring back the Twin Brooks advisory committee item for the council to consider.  My fear is if we talk about this for 3 or 4 months well miss a huge opportunity & to restrict some play on those fields this spring.  Those fields need help now and a committee of stakeholders should convene over the winter to establish use policies.  A.H. Grover will have the field leveled before winter and seed it in the spring.

VII.    EXECUTIVE SESSION re: land acquisition.