For the second year in a row, Edgecomb will hold a referendum-style town meeting vote instead of a traditional in-person setting. In 2020, selectmen first delayed their annual May town meeting, and eventually held a referendum vote in August due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. On Dec. 28, selectmen voted 2-1 to hold a referendum town meeting on May 22 due to rising coronavirus cases in Maine and nationwide. Selectmen Mike Smith and Ted Hugger supported the change. New board member Dawn Murray opposed the decision believing a sensible solution to an open town meeting format could be found. She proposed either a Zoom conference or holding an outside meeting. 

“I don’t like it,” she said. “There are ways around it, either through social distancing or wearing masks. If an article is voted down, you can’t go back and vote on a lower amount.”

All department budget requests have a March 1 deadline. Town Clerk Claudia Coffin reported the earlier date would allow time to format the memory stick with the tabulator scanner for counting votes. Budget Committee Chairman Jack Brennan volunteered to contact local nonprofits about the earlier than usual deadline. Brennan also reported the committee could complete its work by the new deadline.

In other action, selectmen received another tax abatement request created by the bald eagle’s nest on U.S. Route 1. Former owners of the Abenaki Trading Post Ed and Mary E. Hannon owned the business, then called Maine-ly Maine, from 1999 to 2007. They owned a five-acre parcel and sought zoning changes to build a new home on the back lot. In 2017, the Hannons closed the business and sold the property. In a letter, the Hannons told selectmen “Our subdivision requests were denied so we decided to sell the property. We were taxed at a much higher rate than the property was worth, and ask you to revisit the taxes paid.”

Selectmen also serve as the board of overseers who rule on property tax abatements. Overseers submitted the request to the tax assessor for review. Selectmen did rule on a request by a former owner of a foreclosed piece of property. NT Incorporated owned a property development on River Road. The management company failed to pay a $21 balance due on 2018 taxes resulting in foreclosure. The company requested paying the delinquent amount in return for the land. Coffin reported back taxes from 2018 to 2020 totaled $2,827.69. Selectmen approved the request if all back taxes and any additional costs were paid.

Selectmen authorized the fire department to place for sale signs on two fire engines. Emergency Management Agency Director Bill Witzell described both engines as needing work before becoming operational. One engine is parked outside the fire station on Route 27. The other is parked on Town Hall Road. Witzell reported the original plan was to sell the trucks to Aroostook County potato farmers in the spring. Selectmen proposed an alternate plan if a buyer was not found after hearing the department’s “Plan B” is selling the trucks for scrap metal. Selectmen advised placing for sale signs on the trucks and advertising on Craig’s List.

Selectmen appointed Dr. Kathryn Rohr the new municipal health officer. She will replace Roy Potter who resigned earlier this year. Rohr’s term will begin on Jan. 1. “She is clearly qualified, and it’s great to find people in town willing to volunteer,” Smith said.

Selectmen meet next at 6 p.m. Monday, Jan. 11 via Zoom conference.