Castine
Castine Patriot, July 22, 2010
Town takes wait-and-see on library parking for book drop

BY SHARON BRAY
After a public hearing at their July 19 meeting, selectmen decided to wait a few months before putting up “15-minute parking” signs in front of Witherle Memorial Library.

Library Trustee Margery Read had requested the signs to make it easier for people with limited mobility to use the book-return box. While parking near the library is generally available, she said those spaces closest to the book drop often are full. Library staff park farther from the building, she said.

During the discussion, members of the public and the selectmen agreed that they could ask teachers and staff of the Adams School to park elsewhere.

Acting Town Manager Karen Motycka noted that, except for Sundays, parking spaces near the Unitarian Church are usually open when school is in session.

“Let’s try to keep it simple—no signs, no expense, no enforcement,” Read said. She agreed that most people would respect a request to leave those parking spaces open for others who need them. “Let’s try it for three or four months and come back to you if it’s not working.”

Posting parking time limits would require a change in the town’s traffic ordinance.

In another traffic-related matter, the selectmen rejected a request from Dyer Lane resident Ann Ashton to post additional “No Parking” signs on her street. She sent selectmen an e-mail describing her difficulty backing out of her driveway when cars are parked across the street.

“We already have no parking on one side of that street,” said Peter Vogell, chairman of the board of selectmen. With Castine Yacht Club at the foot of that hill, Vogell added, “if we take away four more spaces, we’ll push them someplace else.”

Three or four years ago the town “limited yacht club parking on Water Street,” noted resident Elizabeth Parish. “I don’t think we should limit parking any more.”

Continuing to deal with library parking issues, selectmen agreed to put two articles on the warrant for town meeting in November. The November balloting session is the town’s official meeting while the public gathering in March is the “budget town meeting.”

The zoning ordinance amendment submitted by citizen petition would exempt Witherle and all other libraries from parking requirements. The Planning Board’s own version would exempt only Witherle.

The town’s comprehensive planning committee has not made any recommendation about which version to approve, according to committee member Robin Mass.

A public hearing on the plan is scheduled for Wednesday, August 18, at 4 p.m., according to committee member Liz Parish.

At town meeting in March 2010 voters authorized selectmen to negotiate a lease with a cell tower company. At the July 19 meeting, selectmen voted to follow Town Manager Dale Abernethy’s recommendation to accept a lease agreement with Florida Tower Partners.

According to Abernethy’s letter to selectmen, the FTP lease “will generate revenue for the town.”

The first year of the lease, FTP will pay the town $12,000, said Vogell. The town will have a free antenna on the tower.

Selectman Gus Basile said the amount paid to the town would increase by 3 percent over each of the first five years of the lease. The town would also be paid a portion of what FTP receives from companies that place antennas on the tower. He estimated more than $1 million of income for the town over a 25-year potential lease period.

“If they cease business, they have to take it down at their expense,” Basile added.

Selectmen also discussed a letter from Maine Maritime Academy about upcoming NROTC “annual indoctrination training.” The letter extolled the benefits of new recruits being “vocal” as they train.

Basile raised concerns about the “spicy” content of cadences sung while students march around town as early as 5 a.m.

Selectman David Unger asked Motycka to contact MMA Commandant Jeff Loustaunau who helped with those issues last year.

They also discussed a letter from Christine Lutz-Garrity suggesting that the town needs “an ordinance pertaining to door-to-door salesmen.” She wrote that she was concerned about Atlantic Beef Co. sales people and stated that employees of that company had been in trouble elsewhere.

She reported that she had a conversation with Hancock County Deputy Sheriff Scott Kane about the difficulty of law enforcement where a town does not regulate solicitors.

“As a community, at the very least, we need to be vigilant and ideally inform our residents of this threat to our safety,” Lutz-Garrity wrote.

Motycka had talked to Abernethy about the proposed ordinance. Abernethy talked to town attorney Geoff Hole who “advised against it.”

“Having an ordinance will not stop someone who is really dishonest,” Motycka stated.

Selectmen took no action on the matter.

Parish said the town should express appreciation for Vogell’s volunteer time atop the Dyce Head lighthouse over the past weekend.

Vogell said that during Celebrate Castine more than 100 people visited the lighthouse in four hours Saturday afternoon, “and well over 100” in two hours on Sunday. He said he hopes he has more volunteer help when the lighthouse will be open again September 18.

While street work in town is messy and sometimes confusing, Parish said the crews are so nice “that no one can get mad at them.”

Motycka reported that several people had come to the town office to praise the infrastructure project workers.

The next two selectmen’s meetings are scheduled for August 2 and 16 at 4 p.m. in Emerson Hall.

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