At the special town meeting on Nov. 16, at the beginning of the regular Board of Selectmen’s meeting,  Damariscotta residents passed all seven issues. Most were technical changes, but three involved purchases and borrowing funds for upcoming construction.

The technical changes involved corrections to the site plan ordinance. All these issues passed quickly and easily. The town also approved the replacement of a tractor, which had been approved preliminarily during a regular select board meeting.

The more contentious issues involved the borrowing of funds to complete the sidewalk project on Elm and Theater streets, and the borrowing for future work on culverts on Egypt Road and the installation of public restrooms on the waterfront.

Several citizens wanted to know why it was necessary to borrow the funds for the culverts and the restrooms before the town had the funds to do the work. Town Manager Matt Lutkus said that it was his hope to fund part of the projects with grant monies, but that the grants generally required seeing a match in advance. “It’s a chicken and egg thing,” he said, “but the chicken needs to be there before the egg is provided.”

Fire Chief John Roberts made a motion to ask for a secret ballot for the town borrowing question, but it was voted down, and the town electorate went on to approving the borrowing.

Roberts also spoke to the selectmen in the regular selectmen’s meeting that followed for permission to submit a grant application of his own for extraction equipment, and possibly a new fire engine. He said he did not expect the fire engine grant to succeed because of the age of the youngest fire engine, but thought he might get the Federal Emergency Management Agency grant for the extraction equipment.

Friends of Colonial Pemaquid asked for the town’s help in obtaining the lease for the Colonial Pemaquid park, which the group said would help in getting general work completed without some of the requirements that the state has for state-managed parks.  The group also wants to hire people at higher wages and to have year-round staff. To do this, the group would need the lease for the Contented Sole, a restaurant located in the park, which the state is unwilling to cede to the Friends. The selectmen who were present (Chair,an Robin Mayer was absent due to work out of state) said they would be happy to lend their support.

Healthy Lincoln County’s Substance Use Prevention Partnership offered its assistance in the crafting a possible marijuana moratorium in Damariscotta, but the selectmen who were there had decided to put off the moratorium because they felt they had plenty of time during the possible recount, and the legislative rulemaking process, to make any decisions. They also said they would hold public information meetings.

On Nov. 14, Newcastle decided not to pursue a moratorium. That played a role in Damariscotta’s tabling of its possible six-month moratorium. Newcastle’s Selectmen’s Chairman Brian Foote said in his opinion Newcastle did not need a moratorium unless it was requested by residents through a petition; other members concurred. 

If Newcastle allowed marijuana retail establishments, it would put Damariscotta at an economic disadvantage if they elected to delay or forbid the establishments, Damariscotta board member James Cosgrove said. He said there was enough time built into the delays by the recount and the state’s rulemaking process to accomplish municipal rules around siting and other concerns.