Selectmen, board at odds over comprehensive plan application

A heated selectmen's meeting with accusations of alleged misrepresentation of a comprehensive plan update application filed by planning board members was attended by over 20 residents of the Town of Perry on April 17. In question were several inconsistencies and miscommunication among the board of selectmen, between the planning board and selectmen, and a complaint from within the planning board to selectmen. It was anything but smooth sailing during the meeting.

The events leading up to a fallout among town officials began with a request at the March 28 town meeting submitted by the Perry Planning Board to see if the town would authorize $7,500 to secure state matching funds for the revision and updating of the 1993 Perry Comprehensive Plan. The plan, which is an advisory document that reflects the town's future, was promoted as a guideline for selectmen and other town groups "to guide their decision-making policy and to provide continuity in town policy." The updating of the plan would also give the town an advantage in becoming eligible for state and federal grants to upgrade town public facilities and infrastructure. The article was passed by Perry town voters.

The planning board acted to meet an application deadline of April 14. According to Selectwoman Jeanne Guisinger, Planning Board Chair Nancy Asante called her "to let me know that they were working on meeting the deadline for the submission of the application to secure that funding." Guisinger stated that on Thursday, April 13, Planning Board Vice Chair Jim Whitehead notified her that the eight-page application was completed and was being reviewed by Chairman of the Board of Selectmen David Turner. She went to Whitehead's home, signed the document, and was told that Turner "would not sign it unless I signed it first." Guisinger left with a copy. Later that evening, Guisinger said she received a call from Whitehead informing her that Turner had spoken with him and had "refused" to sign the document citing two errors in the application. Guisinger alleges she tried but was unable to contact Turner by telephone, receiving "a busy signal for two hours." Guisinger then called Selectman Dick Adams to call an emergency selectmen's meeting for the next morning. Adams had a commitment for jury duty and suggested that the application be put on hold. Guisinger stated that the application "had to be in Augusta by 3 p.m. on Friday, or we would lose the ability to apply for the funds until next year." Guisinger said that Adams questioned the timing of the application and also "refused any meeting."

"After a close study of the MMA [Maine Municipal Association] manual for municipal officers, I signed the application for the town," she said. The application was signed by five members of the planning board and Guisinger. Guisinger says that she acted on behalf of the town, at the request of town meeting voters, that the signatures of the selectmen were only a formality, and "I feel that Mr. Turner and Mr. Adams were in serious neglect of their duties by refusing to discuss and sign the application."

Whitehead said, "We worked very hard on the document over a period of months." Whitehead said that Judy East of the Washington County Council of Governments, who had helped to prepare the document, was willing to change some of the wording on the application before submission. Guisinger said that Turner had refused to accept any revision to the document and was unable to be contacted by telephone.

Planning board member Bob Costa submitted a written complaint to the board of selectmen through Turner at the April 17 meeting. The letter read, "I received an urgent message on Friday afternoon that I needed to call the chairman of the Perry Planning Board, Nancy Asante. I was informed by her of the events of this past week that culminated in five members of the planning board signing a Comprehensive Plan grant request that you would not approve, and then submitting said grant to Augusta to receive funds under the auspices of that document. I feel comfortable that Ms. Asante was fairly thorough in her presentation to me, and I have the following complaint: I never saw a copy of the Comprehensive Plan grant application, even though it would have been easy to e-mail it to me. I was never made aware that the comprehensive plan was being submitted, or that you had serious reservations not to sign it. I was not informed that five members of the planning board signed the document, along with Jeanne Guisinger, over your objections."

Nancy Asante explained in a letter, "The grant application submitted to the State Planning Office was solely for the purpose of carrying out the wishes of the people of Perry as expressed at town meeting on March 28. At that time, it was voted unanimously to approve the sum of $7,500 as the town match for the anticipated SPO grant. The deadline was on April 14 at 3 p.m. and Jim Whitehead had volunteered to drive the application to Augusta." Asante also wrote, "An ad hoc committee of three planning board members tried to figure a way out of this apparent impasse. After finding out that the selectmen would not comply with an emergency meeting, there was simply a desire to carry through with the intent of the 100-plus Perry voters present at town meeting who said, in effect, here's the town's half of the money needed to revise the comprehensive plan. You go out and get the other half." Asante said, "There were no secret meetings, and in my conversation with Mr. Costa, I informed him that the application had been signed by Jeanne Guisinger and five members of the planning board. The only reason we signed the application was to demonstrate solidarity with Ms. Guisinger, and to indicate to the SPO that six elected officials in town were intent on carrying out the mandate given to us by the voters at the town meeting."

Turner made a statement about the content of the comprehensive plan saying, "This was falsely presented to the state." Turner turned sour during the meeting when he was questioned by Guisinger, a large group of residents and the press about his alleged actions regarding the application process. After the meeting, Turner went over the document and pointed out some of the content that he felt was inaccurate. In question were some references made about the town "facing the possible construction of a large LNG terminal within its borders as well as a natural gas pipeline in the event that the terminal is constructed." Turner made note that it should have read, "storage facility" only. The document also stated, "As already noted, the 1993 Comprehensive Plan was silent on the issue of industrial development and the town needs to examine whether it wants LNG development on its shores and, if so, how will it mitigate its impacts and the impacts of any alternative pipeline corridors that will transmit natural gas." Turner's other issue concerned the inaccuracies of the original 1993 plan as far as housing projections and the information on the application that "a decrease of school enrollment has occurred since 1993 instead of the increasing school enrollment that was projected in 1993." During the past year, the school department had been meeting with residents and town officials to request that the town add on an addition to the Perry Elementary School because of an increase of students enrolled. Student enrollment had reportedly been increasing over the past seven years. The town turned down the request, citing that the modular add-on was too large an expense. The school is currently at capacity, and has to double up on classroom space while waiting to hire an additional teacher to meet the increase of enrollment.

Turner also stated after the meeting that he had decided not to sign the document "after reading it in its entirety."

"My phone was not off the hook when Ms. Guisinger tried to call. I said I would not look at it again that evening. It was getting late, and I would be available the next morning at my office. I did not receive any calls the next day."

Turner was asked about public participation at regular selectmen's meetings and stated, "I have no problem letting people speak. By law, the public is welcome to comment at town meeting or at public hearings. When people start speaking [at selectmen meetings] at the same time or start to become loud, they will not be allowed to participate further." The municipal building office area is a small meeting area, but Turner said there are no plans to move meetings elsewhere. "We need to conduct town business here. It's been conducted here for the last 50 years. We need access to the copy machine, telephone and files." Turner said he was "working for Perry" and that "these special interest groups need to go on to other business."

Quoddy Bay to pay attorney fees for review of PIA plan
At least 40 agenda items were addressed at the April 17 meeting. One was a motion that was passed 2-1 "to authorize the chairman to hire an independent lawyer to have a legal review of the Economic Incentive Plan proposed by the Perry Improvement Association (PIA) to the Town of Perry with all fees to be paid by Quoddy Bay LNG." This motion also created a commotion within the group at the meeting. In question was the status of the PIA as "a negotiating body for the town," and they also questioned if the motion was legal.

The meeting forged on and ended with an announcement that the next selectmen's meeting would be held on Monday, May 1, at 4 p.m.

MMA says application invalid
Following the meeting, the Maine Municipal Legal Services Department has issued a statement in regards to the submission of the grant application to the State Planning Office. Kristin Collins, staff attorney, wrote to Turner saying, "The question put forth to this office was whether the application was validly submitted in the absence of signatures of a majority of the selectmen. It is my opinion that it was not. The town meeting vote of March 28 did not provide an express delegation to anyone of the authority to submit the application. In the absence of language in the town meeting vote authorizing the planning board to submit the application, it had no authority to do so. Because the board of selectmen is the municipal body charged with the responsibility of entering into contracts on its behalf, it is apparent that the town meeting vote intended the selectmen to be the ones to submit the application." Collins also stated, "In the event that the State Planning Office rejects the application, the only recourse would be to apply again next year."

The Maine State Planning Office, Perry selectmen, planning board officials, State Senator Kevin Raye and State Rep. Anne Perry were contacted by e-mail and advised in a three-page statement by Turner, "A majority of the selectmen from the Town of Perry have declared that the application submitted on April 14th had not been properly certified under Section I." Turner also included the statement from MMA and listed several "errors and misstatements" in the application.

"It is unfortunate that the mishandling of this matter by some members of the planning board has resulted in an authorized and invalid application. It is my hope that the board of selectmen will soon appoint a comprehensive planning committee who can undertake a new effort to work with Judy East (Washington Council of Governments) to draft a straightforward application for the next round of funding. This will allow these issues to be resolved and for proper procedures to be followed so the town can move forward with the comprehensive planning process."