See if nuclear power made with "small modular reactors" (SMRs) could be an industry in town, past Wiscasset selectman and recent legislator Ed Polewarczyk suggested to selectmen Jan. 7. If it can be, that could mean "a bunch of property tax revenue," Polewarczyk said. 

He was concerned housing — one of the uses being eyed for former Maine Yankee acreage the town owns near Old Ferry Road — could cost the town more in education dollars than it would contribute to the tax base.

"What we really need to do is bring some industry in here, especially challenging in Maine," with its income tax and energy costs, Polewarczyk said. 

"I certainly would be in favor of looking at that," Town Manager Dennis Simmons, taking part via Zoom, said of the nuclear power idea. But nuclear power cannot go on that Old Ferry Road property, according to Simmons. The Maine Yankee closure deal bars using the acreage for another nuclear power plant, he explained.

Some deals can be updated, Polewarczyk said.

"Probably, but with 30-some signatories on that agreement, it would be a little on the tough side," Simmons said.

The U.S. Department of Energy at energy.gov calls SMRs “a key part of the Department’s goal to develop safe, clean, and affordable nuclear power options (with their) relatively small physical footprints, reduced capital investment, ability to be sited in locations not possible for larger nuclear plants, and provisions for incremental power additions. SMRs also offer distinct safeguards, security and nonproliferation advantages.

“Significant technology development and licensing risks remain in bringing advanced SMR designs to market and government support is required to achieve domestic deployment of SMRs by the late 2020s or early 2030s,” the federal department states. “Through this program, the Department has partnered with NuScale Power and Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems (UAMPS) to demonstrate a first-of-a-kind reactor technology at the Idaho National Laboratory this decade.”

Polewarczyk mentioned NuScale in his remarks, made in the public comment part of the meeting. 

Also Jan. 7, selectmen nodded Haley Ward to develop a community-driven climate resilience plan for the waterfront. In August, the town won a $50,000 Community Action Grant through the Governor's Office of Policy Innovation and the Future's Community Resilience Partnership, Wiscasset Economic Development Director Aaron Chrostowsky said in a Jan. 2 memo to Simmons.

All five bids came close to the $50,000, according to information Chrostowsky provided on request Jan. 8: Yarmouth-based rasor.co, $49,936; Tighe & Bond of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, $49,900; FB Environmental (with offices in Dover, New Hampshire and Portland, according to fbenvironmental.com), $49,617; Haley Ward (with offices in Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Florida, according to haleyward.com), $49,955; and SWCA Environmental Consultants (with a Portland office and others in the U.S. and Mexico, according to swca.com), $50,000. 

Chrostowsky said he, Simmons, the Climate Action Team chair and a Lincoln County Regional Planning  Commission representative ranked each proposal based on the company overview and qualifications (20%); references and experience (30%); proposed approach (30%); and expected project timeline (20%). "Haley Ward was the highest-scoring bidder based on the approach. Out of all the proposals received, they were the only firm that conducted a site visit to better understand the project. They intend to use existing federal and state data, Reality Capture (3D modeling), and unmanned aerial systems," Chrostowsky wrote in the memo.

The board named Eric Cousineau and Luke Saindon to the waterfront committee, Anthony Gatti Jr. to the planning board and Mark Light to the airport advisory committee; nodded a liquor license for Marketplace Cafe, 681 Bath Road, Northeast Trade Services' latest lease of suites B and C in the airport terminal building, and a business license for "Fiction: a novel bookshop," 49 Water St. Owner Toni Chappell of Edgecomb wrote on the application, the business, a bookshop with "some gift items," will likely open in April.