Alna planning board chairman Jim Amaral said the panel will deliberate tonight on Jeff Spinney’s ramp and earthwork request. Wednesday night on Zoom, the board heard some of the same public concern and heard Spinney say he was open to talking about possible public access. The statement came in response to a question from Amaral.

Amaral wondered if Maine Department of Environmental Protection might accept some limited public access as an alternative to a sportsman’s club from a prior proposal. The ramp, as a temporary structure, would not need DEP approval, but the earthwork he also proposes would, Spinney said.

The meetings come about a week before mediation in Spinney’s earlier proposal the board and the town’s appeals board rejected. The new bid the board faces is for a mat he said he can take on and off the bank of his Golden Ridge Road property.

“Most of your project, I’m pretty good with,” member Beth Whitney told Spinney. But she said the ordinance calls for facilities no bigger than needed, and consistent with area conditions, use and character. “It does seem like (the proposal is) a little bit of overkill on that count.” 

Spinney said he needed something heavy enough to stay in place in the water, and wanted the mat big enough to disperse the weight and minimize pressure on soft ground, like snowshoes do, he said. 

Amaral asked about using a smaller mat. Member Taylor McGraw said that might break, damaging the ground.

Among public comments, Ralph Hilton asked the board to focus on the facts, “not a whole bunch of baloney from people who are looking for any excuse at all to attack someone ... looking for a simple permit.”

And Cathy Johnson said the site has a muddy section “completely unsuitable” for the proposal.

Tonight’s meeting is at 6:30 p.m. at https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84954614056?pwd=ZDdhTDB6eEJNVHY1VjZLclN5S0pldz09

A town email lists passcode 137614.