Damariscotta Town Manager Matt Lutkus announced July 5, the town has received an engineering grant to design a boat launch at Biscay Beach. He said he is hopeful that once the design is complete, the town will be more competitive for a grant to build the boat launch.

Downtown parking, a perennial summer problem, may have become a little less troublesome, as the Twin Village Alliance has entered into contracts with area businesses to rent parking spaces to Main Street merchants for their employees outside the public parking lots.  Banks will also allow parking in their lots on Saturday afternoons and Sundays.

Selectmen welcomed Amy Leshure to the board, replacing James Cosgrove, who had elected not to return after a single year on the board. Leshure was elected June 13,  along with George Parker, who won a third term.

The board changed the days it meets to the first and third Tuesdays of the month, beginning Aug. 1. The start time will remain 5:30 p.m. This month’s dates are unchanged, since public notices have already gone out on a public hearing for a possible town marijuana ordinance, July 19 at 5:30 p.m.

Lutkus announced that Stanley Waltz was honored as Code Enforcement Officer of the Year by the Midcoast Code Enforcement Officers’ Association. Waltz serves many of the towns in Lincoln County.

Lutkus also announced replacements for Bruce Garren and Stephen Cole on the Planning Board. Neither wanted to be reappointed. Both of their terms expire this month. An interview process involved 14 candidates. Regular members, appointed for three years, are Neil Genthner and Adam Maltese. Dana Orenstein and Jenny Begin will serve one-year terms as first and second alternates.

On the Board of Appeals, Fred Sewall was reappointed to a three-year term, James Cosgrove was appointed to finish a term ending in 2019 and George Betke was appointed to finish a term ending in 2018. Phoebe Nichols and Lucy Harrington were selected to serve one-year terms as alternates.

On the Harbor Committee, Michael Hertz will be reappointed for a term ending this month. On the Financial Advisory Committee, George Betke will be reappointed and Leshure will serve as selectmen’s representative. George Parker and Josh Pinkham will stay on the Public Works Committee.

A new committee was appointed to look at possible revisions to the land use ordinances. It will examine all previous material Damariscotta has done to improve land use ordinances and other ordinances affecting public spaces. The goal is to propose a revision based on a form-based code, while including concepts discussed during the previous “Heart and Soul Charrette” process. Committee members are Robin Mayer, Adam Nelson, Laurie Greene, Rosa Ergas, Ann Jackson, Shari Sage and Bruce Rockwood. The committee does not yet have a name.

During the public comment period, Edwin Stelzer of 616 Westview Road told the board about a difficult situation he had encountered while working with his neighbors to add hot top to their driveways. One of the neighbors, an elderly woman, had a culvert under her driveway which Stelzer said his contractor told him was not necessary to replace. The town, however, disagreed, and is now insisting that the elderly woman, Mrs. Haas, tear up the new driveway and replace the culvert at her expense or the town will do it and charge her for the work.

Stelzer said the town’s road commissioner, Hugh Priebe, warned the neighbors and the contractor that the culvert would have to be replaced, but Stelzer disagreed with the assessment and authorized the work anyway for Haas, who was in the hospital at the time.

He appeared before the board to warn the town not to trespass on Haas’ property or remove any of the hot top material or the soil.

Lutkus said that he would have to review state statutes and town ordinances and confer with the town attorney. He said he would be inclined to let the matter slide if there was no compelling reason to tear up Haas’s driveway.