[0:00] Say Andy, to your point, it's harder and

[0:01] harder to see things organically.

[0:04] >> There is.

[0:06] >> I work in the space of like buying ads.

[0:09] It's very crazy.

[0:11] I'm relieved I don't buy political ads

[0:13] anymore for me or for campaigns or that

[0:15] is even crazier. It's a whole other

[0:18] system and process. Yeah.

[0:21] >> How was How was Regine?

[0:24] Doing good?

[0:25] And Puck?

[0:27] >> How are we going to have Puck doing

[0:28] much?

[0:29] >> He's not such a Puck anymore.

[0:35] » Good evening. We'll bring this meeting

[0:37] of the Skowhegan Planning Board to

[0:39] order.

[0:41] First item of business that we have is

[0:44] to organize.

[0:47] At the present, we have two of our

[0:49] members who

[0:52] need to be sworn in and Gail isn't here

[0:55] to swear them in. So, they

[0:59] can't nominate and they can't vote.

[1:02] And the question I have is from the

[1:05] board, do we want to

[1:07] Does anybody want to make a motion to

[1:09] put this off to the next meeting where

[1:11] they are permitted to do that?

[1:13] >> I would move that we wait until we have

[1:14] a full board to select them.

[1:16] >> Do we have a second?

[1:17] >> I'll second.

[1:17] >> Is there any discussion about that?

[1:20] Seeing none, we'll vote. All those in

[1:22] favor, please raise your hand.

[1:24] Your

[1:24] >> You're mine. Okay.

[1:27] >> So, it's unanimous.

[1:28] >> that need to be sworn in?

[1:31] >> [laughter]

[1:31] >> Okay, we'll put that off to the next

[1:33] meeting.

[1:33] >> Brandy, Andy.

[1:35] >> We do have a quorum.

[1:38] And Aaron, you're taking Michelle's

[1:39] place.

[1:40] >> Okay.

[1:43] » And I'll entertain a motion to approve

[1:45] the minutes from the last meeting.

[1:48] It's been a while since we've had a

[1:50] meeting, so.

[1:51] >> A couple of months.

[1:54] I move that we

[1:56] accept them.

[1:58] >> Okay, you got a motion

[2:00] to approve the minutes. Do we have a

[2:01] second?

[2:03] >> I second.

[2:03] >> Okay, got a second. Is there any

[2:06] additions or corrections?

[2:10] Seeing none, we'll vote. All those in

[2:11] favor, please raise your hand.

[2:16] Those opposed?

[2:17] Motion carries.

[2:20] Okay.

[2:21] Next item of business

[2:24] under site plan subdivision.

[2:26] Pre-application review for proposed

[2:28] eight-lot subdivision application

[2:30] submitted by Durago Engineering for

[2:33] Jeremy

[2:35] How do you pronounce your name? Reardon?

[2:38] >> It's pronounced Reardon.

[2:38] >> Reardon? Okay, Reardon to be located on

[2:41] Fourth Street.

[2:43] Okay, uh who's going to be speaking?

[2:47] >> Uh I'll get up and speak to start, but

[2:49] I'll defer any technical questions to

[2:51] Randy. Everyone, I'm Jeremy. I've come

[2:54] to you uh apply for a subdivision. Um I

[2:57] purchased Fourth Street from a gentleman

[2:59] named Larry Smith out of Cornville about

[3:01] 5 years ago.

[3:03] There's two newer homes on the property.

[3:06] Two of them need to be replaced. And I'd

[3:08] also like to

[3:10] upgrade in the back. There's quite a bit

[3:12] of room, I think, to do it.

[3:14] Um

[3:15] but what I'd really like to also do is

[3:17] if the subdivision's approved,

[3:19] I'd like to also upgrade um this home

[3:21] and this home.

[3:24] So, I'm looking to buy possibly six new

[3:27] mobile homes to put on the property.

[3:30] Um

[3:31] I've contracted uh Skowhegan Sand and

[3:34] Gravel for the groundwork.

[3:37] They've offered to do that, um take on

[3:39] the contract. I have um applied for some

[3:42] financing through Skowhegan Savings.

[3:44] They've approved me on that, so

[3:47] we're hoping to get through this process

[3:48] and

[3:51] questions.

[3:55] » Are there any questions?

[4:00] Why

[4:01] yes, Jeff.

[4:03] Did you want to add before?

[4:04] >> No, no.

[4:05] >> Okay.

[4:06] Um well, first off I I'd say thank you

[4:08] for

[4:09] both the improvement and the expansion.

[4:12] We do need housing. This is within town,

[4:14] so appreciate that. Um as far as the new

[4:18] homes, are those um

[4:20] Are Are you thinking new or new used?

[4:23] >> I'm going to purchase I intend to

[4:25] purchase new homes. Um they're going to

[4:27] be probably 15 by 60.

[4:30] >> Okay.

[4:30] >> Yeah.

[4:32] >> And then my

[4:33] other question was on lot or

[4:36] lot 7 and 8.

[4:37] >> Yes.

[4:38] >> like the number eight may be used in the

[4:40] future for a house lot, and I just was

[4:42] curious about any thoughts to any

[4:44] buffering um between there and the

[4:47] community center.

[4:48] >> So I would intend to leave as much um

[4:51] space between a buffer a tree buffer

[4:53] between the property and the community

[4:55] center as possible.

[4:57] Um

[4:57] so I wouldn't be looking to take the

[4:58] woods back all the way up to it. And as

[5:00] far as that lot number eight goes, I

[5:02] mean

[5:03] it would probably be either like a

[5:05] single wide mobile home with a small

[5:07] garage or possibly a just a small double

[5:11] wide or something. So you know, I

[5:13] wouldn't be looking to put like a big

[5:15] colonial back there or nothing. Yeah.

[5:18] >> Appreciate that.

[5:19] >> Or possibly may just be um

[5:22] another single wide 15 by 60. So

[5:25] >> Okay.

[5:27] Yeah. Thank you.

[5:27] >> Yeah.

[5:29] Well, I think I'll let Randy speak. He

[5:30] can give the details better than I can.

[5:34] >> Yeah, one of the things one of the

[5:35] things Sorry, I'll introduce myself.

[5:37] Randy Butler, I'm with Dirigo

[5:38] Engineering. Um one of the things you

[5:40] might notice on the plan is we're trying

[5:41] to keep the lots relatively large.

[5:44] Typically, when you think in mobile home

[5:46] park, you think in tight lots and so

[5:47] forth. The Sky Higgens minimum size is

[5:50] 6,500 sq. ft. The minimum that we've got

[5:53] there is 12

[5:55] almost double that. Lot number three is

[5:57] at 12,600.

[5:58] I guess we do have sorry, lot number

[6:00] five. That's that's the the the smallest

[6:02] of and that's kind of because we're

[6:03] trying to retain some space for storm

[6:05] water detention if we need it. And I as

[6:07] I'm looking at that, there is a typo on

[6:08] that. It should be about 6655

[6:12] sq. ft. Um

[6:14] you can see the rest of them average 13

[6:16] to 20,000 give or take. So, they're

[6:19] decent size lots compared to a typical

[6:22] mobile home. His intent is just to keep

[6:24] it uh more open, more

[6:27] neighborhood setting as opposed to a

[6:29] crammed in park.

[6:32] One of the

[6:34] issues there right now it's just a

[6:35] gravel road,

[6:37] um relatively narrow. I think 10 to 12

[6:39] ft wide and I'm quite sure the fire

[6:42] chief is going to require a 20-ft width.

[6:45] Uh that's pretty common on a on a home

[6:47] as this. So, that's what I've drawn in

[6:48] there.

[6:49] Um

[6:50] typical mobile home park requires 20

[6:52] state law says 23-ft minimum

[6:54] right-of-way width. I've gone with 24

[6:56] just for simple simplicity there.

[6:59] >> [snorts]

[6:59] >> Uh and then we show the setbacks there

[7:01] off the lines as well.

[7:05] Both water and sewer will be public.

[7:07] And I've got to do some research on

[7:09] storm drainage. Everything drains toward

[7:12] West Front Street. As you might have

[7:14] noticed, there's a typo on that. I

[7:15] labeled it as West Main. It should be

[7:17] West Front Street. Um

[7:20] it drains toward West Front Street, but

[7:22] I've got to do a little bit of research

[7:23] with the

[7:24] road commissioner to

[7:27] figure out what happens with drainage

[7:28] down there at the street.

[7:31] >> So, you're not looking ever to make this

[7:35] past the town to take this road.

[7:36] >> Typical mobile home park that it doesn't

[7:38] happen. No.

[7:40] because of the right-of-way. That's

[7:41] one of the trade-offs that you make by

[7:43] doing a mobile home park is your right

[7:45] away is narrower. That's in order to

[7:47] make the place affordable and by virtue

[7:49] of that, most town ordinances are going

[7:52] to require a minimum 50-ft right away.

[7:57] » So, right now there are two

[7:59] existing, correct?

[8:01] >> Um

[8:02] >> Four.

[8:02] homes, right?

[8:03] >> are existing.

[8:04] >> Yeah. So, it's lot one. Well, actually

[8:07] it's lots one, two, three, and four are

[8:08] the existing ones. That's why we labeled

[8:10] them that way.

[8:11] So, lot five would be the first new one.

[8:14] >> So, the ones that actually show

[8:16] something there.

[8:17] >> Yeah. Yeah. I've kind of got a little

[8:19] bit of a cross-hatching around the kind

[8:20] of a black outline on each of those

[8:22] existing homes.

[8:24] >> And do those have cement pads

[8:26] >> I don't know the answer to that.

[8:28] >> There's a mixture.

[8:30] Uh I believe two of the four have cement

[8:32] pads.

[8:37] » And has it been long-term?

[8:38] Have they been there a long time?

[8:40] >> So, everybody that's been living there

[8:42] has lived there since before I acquired

[8:45] the property.

[8:46] Um the longest

[8:48] person I believe is over 20 years.

[8:52] People have stayed.

[8:54] >> And they're all rentals, then?

[8:55] >> They are all rentals, yes.

[8:58] >> In- including the homes, right? You As

[9:00] far as I understand, you you own the

[9:01] homes as well. So, this is a little

[9:02] unique scenario. A lot of mobile home

[9:04] parks, the tenant owns the home, rents

[9:07] the lot. In this scenario, he owns the

[9:09] home and the lot, which gives him

[9:11] flexibility if somebody should move out

[9:13] to replace that and bring in some bring

[9:16] in something newer.

[9:18] » Couple of questions. Go ahead.

[9:21] >> Um thanks for going over the drainage. I

[9:22] was looking at the topography and

[9:24] >> Yep.

[9:24] >> you know, they invested in you, so I was

[9:26] going to ask questions about the

[9:27] drainage, but you answered that

[9:28] question.

[9:29] >> Yeah. Yeah. Right. Yeah, sheet two, if

[9:30] you're not familiar with it, sheet two

[9:32] does show the contours, and as you can

[9:34] see from that, it is all draining toward

[9:36] the road. And that's why we've got that

[9:37] area reserved for storm water detention.

[9:40] Just kind of outline, we haven't done

[9:41] design work on it yet, and kind of

[9:43] looking a little bit for your feedback

[9:44] as to what your expectations might be on

[9:47] that.

[9:48] >> [clears throat]

[9:49] >> And then, you know, I was curious. Uh it

[9:51] sounds like you are going to talk to,

[9:53] you know,

[9:54] find out, and I'll ask

[9:56] our code enforcement person the same

[9:57] question. But, in regards to the width

[9:59] of the road, you're prepared to

[10:01] build that road wider than it exists

[10:03] now.

[10:03] >> Correct.

[10:04] >> And then, question I had

[10:06] um

[10:07] was on the depth of this T-turn or this

[10:09] >> Right.

[10:10] >> turn at the end, if it is deep enough.

[10:12] >> Yeah, it I should show throw some

[10:13] dimensions on there. Typically, I do

[10:15] those a minimum of 40 ft. It might even

[10:17] be 50 ft there. But, we can confirm that

[10:20] with the town to make sure that meets

[10:21] your requirements.

[10:22] >> Great. And then, I was just curious on

[10:24] lot six, there appears to be two

[10:26] structures, and I didn't know if those

[10:28] were just storage buildings right now.

[10:30] >> Yeah, there's one storage Well, at least

[10:31] on the at the date of this aerial plan,

[10:33] I don't know if that's still on there or

[10:34] not.

[10:35] >> Um yes, there's on lot six, I have it

[10:41] Lot six. Yeah, those both of those

[10:43] buildings will get all the way

[10:44] >> Okay. Yep.

[10:45] >> storage shed.

[10:46] >> Sure.

[10:46] >> Yeah.

[10:50] So,

[10:51] one of the first questions was about the

[10:53] buffer ring between

[10:55] these back two lots and community center

[10:59] property. What is there now?

[11:02] >> It's just it's wooded. Yeah.

[11:03] >> Wooded?

[11:04] >> Yep, it's Yep, there's woods there. I

[11:05] think a little bit It's hard to tell

[11:07] from the aerial imagery. I think a

[11:09] little bit of the woods goes is on the

[11:11] community center property, maybe 10 ft

[11:13] or so of the woods. You can kind of see

[11:15] a little bit of a an outline that I've

[11:17] done on the aerial plan, my guess

[11:19] estimate where the woods line is based

[11:21] on that the aerial imagery, and I think

[11:23] I had another later aerial imagery that

[11:25] the tree showed up a little bit better.

[11:27] So, I believe that that's So, the idea

[11:29] is to, you know, retain I don't think

[11:31] your ordinance has a stated buffer

[11:33] width. So, you know, something like a 20

[11:36] 25-ft buffer I think is what you

[11:38] >> I would say maximum buffer possible

[11:40] would remain.

[11:43] If I had to guess, there's probably

[11:44] about 50 ft of woods.

[11:47] Um I'd probably look at maybe just take

[11:49] 20 ft back.

[11:51] And then you have your remaining 30.

[11:53] >> Uh my my main question is, you know,

[11:56] what kind of

[11:57] how does the uh community center deal

[12:00] with access to the property?

[12:05] » Uh

[12:06] >> [snorts]

[12:06] >> I guess I'm not clear on your question.

[12:08] >> Well, the

[12:08] >> As far as trying to keep keep folks from

[12:10] the We want to be creating a place where

[12:12] people just come right through into the

[12:15] property at the end of this.

[12:17] Well, I I certainly don't think it wants

[12:19] to be a a shortcut for people that are

[12:21] walking to and from. Is that what you

[12:22] >> Things like that happen.

[12:23] >> Yeah.

[12:24] >> That's the reason I'm bringing this up.

[12:25] It's like

[12:26] >> Mhm.

[12:27] >> [clears throat]

[12:27] >> I'll say that and that already happens.

[12:29] Kids cut through

[12:30] >> there.

[12:30] >> Um because there's like a a trail.

[12:33] >> There is.

[12:33] >> And then I almost kind of wonder if

[12:35] there were two homes there, that might

[12:36] stop that actually.

[12:39] Um

[12:40] and it's not really a big deal. I

[12:41] personally don't mind if kids walk

[12:43] through there, but

[12:44] um some of the neighbors I don't

[12:45] [clears throat] think really like it cuz

[12:47] they're just whatever.

[12:48] >> Yeah.

[12:50] >> Um

[12:51] >> Does anybody know what the uh community

[12:53] center's policy or what has been done in

[12:56] the past there?

[12:59] Any idea?

[12:59] >> I Well, it's closed at a certain time,

[13:02] like any park in town. So, there is

[13:04] probably like a sunset piece for

[13:07] those facilities. It's interesting cuz

[13:09] the two structure or the the courts that

[13:12] are there and the skate park are both

[13:13] fenced, but there is no fencing to

[13:15] separate property. I just know

[13:18] everywhere else around the community

[13:19] center it's just like

[13:21] everyone sort of heads through

[13:24] any any, you know, any way they can. Um

[13:27] and I know we have another subdivision

[13:29] property that's sort of prevented that

[13:31] by

[13:33] changing the elevation and fencing.

[13:35] >> Okay.

[13:35] >> But it still exists in most other spots

[13:38] where

[13:38] >> Right. Is it a concern for you folks as

[13:41] far as

[13:42] mandating anything if

[13:44] >> I don't I don't know that I have a big concern unless there's something

[13:51] in place

[13:53] already, you know, where it's a has been

[13:55] a problem for the town and this you

[13:58] know, this would be the time to deal

[14:00] with that if it is.

[14:02] >> It could get a pet

[14:03] >> But if it's if it's working and

[14:05] everybody don't mind

[14:08] >> I was going to suggest

[14:08] >> I wouldn't have any

[14:10] >> Yeah. I'm going to suggest a pet bison

[14:12] might help deter.

[14:13] >> Yeah.

[14:14] >> Seems to be the trend these days. Yeah,

[14:15] you know, and it's interesting like I

[14:16] feel like the buffering question and

[14:18] some of those it's I almost feel like we

[14:20] ask it more and more because when these

[14:22] projects come up people you know, how

[14:24] can we not ask them about a buffer? And

[14:26] you know, not anything necessarily

[14:27] mandating but we just

[14:28] >> Right. Yeah.

[14:29] >> It creates the dialogue that's helpful.

[14:31] >> Right. In this case, I understand you

[14:33] want to buffer against other residences.

[14:35] I guess I'm not sure if there's quite as

[14:37] much push to have a buffer

[14:39] to to protect the community center. If

[14:41] anything it'd be more protecting the

[14:43] tenants in the park.

[14:44] >> too is the neighbors wouldn't be yeah.

[14:46] >> [snorts]

[14:51] » Anybody else have any questions?

[14:53] >> And I'll be honest, mainly the reason I

[14:54] asked about the homes was I

[14:57] kind of had heard that they were new. So

[14:59] I was just saying that again so it would

[15:01] repeat it. So you go home and read the

[15:02] Scott Hagan page.

[15:03] >> Mhm.

[15:04] >> People know exactly what's happening.

[15:06] >> Got you.

[15:06] >> You know, there's not some big mystery

[15:07] in what we're

[15:08] >> Right. Good. Thank you.

[15:09] >> to hear for your sake, yeah.

[15:13] » My only question is regarding the

[15:15] connection to the public water system. I

[15:16] see a letter of service from the sewer.

[15:19] Have you reached out talked Made them

[15:20] aware? work.

[15:21] >> have but I haven't heard back from them.

[15:22] I reached out to him and verbally

[15:24] they've got no problem with it. What

[15:25] he's telling me is that they want to see

[15:27] a I think right now I've got to double

[15:29] check my notes, but I think he said

[15:30] there are just two smaller services

[15:33] serving the park right now, which would

[15:34] make sense if there's only four homes.

[15:36] You can do those with pretty small

[15:37] lines.

[15:38] Uh he'd like to see something for a

[15:40] larger line coming in.

[15:42] Um probably from the street. Uh so

[15:44] whatever it might be of

[15:46] 3 4-in line, something of that size

[15:48] would probably suffice. We've got

[15:50] there's a mobile home park in

[15:51] Waterville, not one that we designed,

[15:53] but from the 1970s [snorts]

[15:54] has a 100-plus units on a 1 and 1/2-in

[15:58] line.

[15:59] So it kind of gives you a sense of the

[16:00] scale of, you know, probably a 2 3-in

[16:02] line can serve these eight properties

[16:04] without too much concern.

[16:06] >> And would you have to run that line

[16:08] all the way up and then

[16:09] >> We've got a

[16:11] Yeah, we've got to We've got to Again,

[16:12] we'll consult with the with the water

[16:14] department to see where exactly can we

[16:17] connect. There I'm not even sure which

[16:19] side the main is on. I suspect it's on

[16:21] the opposite side of the road because

[16:22] that's where the hydrant is at the

[16:24] entrance. There's a mobile There's a

[16:26] Um I don't remember the name of it.

[16:27] There's a motel right there across the

[16:30] road.

[16:31] Kays, okay. Yeah, right, that's it. Um

[16:34] you can see kind of on the the upper

[16:36] left corner of our plan, you'll see that

[16:38] little symbol that represents

[16:41] a hydrant.

[16:42] Um

[16:43] So that's So which which

[16:46] Uh he said it was just about adequate.

[16:48] Uh I think he said

[16:50] I think he told me mid-40s and looking

[16:53] at the elevation differences, we figured

[16:54] it would it would be adequate. Uh the

[16:56] question I raised with him was, "Okay,

[16:58] what about the community center?"

[17:00] Uh and apparently that's got

[17:02] marginal adequate, not great pressure,

[17:04] but enough to service. And that's

[17:07] roughly the same elevation as what the

[17:08] upper homes would be at.

[17:12] So not extreme pressure, but

[17:15] meets the meets the code.

[17:18] » Yeah, most uh

[17:21] private run at 230 and

[17:25] uh 50 anyway.

[17:26] >> Right. Yeah.

[17:27] >> 30 psi at the last place.

[17:30] >> Right.

[17:31] >> It's not great, but it's

[17:33] >> Right.

[17:33] >> It will work.

[17:34] >> Correct.

[17:41] Any other questions?

[17:46] Aaron, do you have anything?

[17:47] >> I don't, no.

[17:49] >> Everything looks good to you?

[17:51] >> I think so, yeah. We just wait on the

[17:52] final plans from uh Randy. We give him

[17:54] the letters to serve as they come in.

[17:57] So, as long as we have copies of that.

[18:00] » Very good, Will.

[18:02] Thank you for uh presenting this to us.

[18:05] It everything looks in order.

[18:07] We expect to see you at our next meeting

[18:09] or

[18:10] >> Um possibly, yeah. See if we can get

[18:13] things lined up at your

[18:15] >> meet once a month, correct? And you want

[18:16] materials a couple weeks in advance.

[18:18] >> business we have to take care of, we'll

[18:21] have a meeting.

[18:22] >> Okay, very well. Thank you very much.

[18:24] Appreciate it.

[18:24] >> Yeah, thank you.

[18:25] >> Thank you.

[18:30] » Okay, no items by public.

[18:35] No communications.

[18:38] Unfinished business, nothing. New

[18:40] business, nothing.

[18:43] No selectman here with us today, but we

[18:45] do have a new selectman

[18:48] since our last meeting.

[18:51] And uh I asked who the new chairman was.

[18:55] And it's Mr. Nolan. Is that correct?

[18:58] >> No.

[18:59] sir.

[19:00] >> Huh?

[19:00] >> No, he just voted.

[19:02] >> Nelson.

[19:02] Yeah.

[19:03] >> Oh.

[19:04] >> Nelson.

[19:06] So, what?

[19:08] >> He's down at the park. I just saw him.

[19:10] And that's our new selectman down there,

[19:13] >> Who's the new selectman?

[19:14] >> Uh Matt DuBois.

[19:16] >> Oh.

[19:16] >> He's the bank guy.

[19:17] >> All right.

[19:20] » And uh

[19:21] do you have anything for us?

[19:25] » I don't. No. Um

[19:29] just

[19:32] we got to get you guys form back in. We

[19:33] need to stop in. We sent the email.

[19:36] We need to get you guys to stop back in

[19:37] and take care of the mail.

[19:39] Reminds us.

[19:41] Um

[19:42] we are going to buy

[19:44] we've sent out some emails to you guys

[19:46] to get forwarded over for the training

[19:49] that's mandatory now by the end of the

[19:51] year.

[19:52] It started so it's 6 months from July

[19:54] 1st

[19:55] for the field board, planning board.

[19:58] Seven hours that need to be done

[20:00] um in order to be on the board now as

[20:02] they told me.

[20:04] Um so we're going to try and get I know

[20:06] it's kind of hard sometimes they're at

[20:07] night or they're up and they do them up

[20:09] at night Bangor or we've been to them

[20:11] over at uh

[20:12] what is it? Cross Insurance Center up

[20:14] there.

[20:15] Uh

[20:16] maybe they can do them the one

[20:18] Brewer but we found uh we can buy uh

[20:22] buy the training video online and it's

[20:24] good for

[20:25] X amount of days.

[20:27] So

[20:28] that's what we're going to try and do.

[20:30] Yeah, 30 days I think it is or 60 days

[20:32] or whenever we buy it and just set up a

[20:34] time and

[20:36] >> Will we do it

[20:38] together or just individually? How

[20:41] >> Yeah, yeah, we can do it individually. I

[20:42] think it's like 2 and 1/2 hours so

[20:43] individually during the week if you guys

[20:45] want to

[20:46] >> What is this for?

[20:47] >> try and you know pop in and we can set

[20:48] something up downstairs in the in the

[20:51] small

[20:51] >> Is that the question?

[20:53] >> Is there a frequency as in the training

[20:55] has to be repeated?

[20:57] >> I don't know. Uh I'll double check.

[21:01] >> I had it about 3 years ago.

[21:02] >> Yeah, I'm pretty sure that it I'm pretty

[21:05] positive it was. I can't remember off

[21:06] the top of head.

[21:08] Pretty sure it was. I think every I

[21:09] think everybody pretty much needs it.

[21:11] There's just

[21:11] >> Except to do it once.

[21:12] >> like one or two.

[21:13] >> I think Antoinette

[21:15] recently took it.

[21:16] >> Yes.

[21:17] >> How often do you have to do it?

[21:18] >> That's what we were discussing now. I I

[21:20] don't remember. I I can't remember off

[21:21] the top of my head. I'd be guessing

[21:23] again.

[21:24] >> Sounds like this is just need to have

[21:25] done it once.

[21:27] >> No, I think there is a frequency to it.

[21:29] >> Okay.

[21:30] >> Yeah.

[21:31] I think everybody except for one or two

[21:32] of you need it.

[21:34] So, I'm just saying.

[21:34] >> We can do an evening showing.

[21:36] Come in, eat some waffles.

[21:40] Aaron's like, I'll leave you the keys so

[21:42] you can come in.

[21:45] » You know, we can talk about it.

[21:47] May- well, what did your parents say?

[21:49] Maybe. Maybe. We'll see.

[21:51] >> We've We've banked, uh,

[21:53] you know, what? One or two months

[21:55] already.

[21:56] >> I know. I know. I was like, wow, how

[21:57] many meetings have I missed? And I was

[21:58] like, oh, wait a minute, it's just the

[21:59] one I couldn't be in. And And yeah.

[22:01] >> We have some valuable and disgusting

[22:03] items as a group. That's good.

[22:05] >> Yeah.

[22:07] We can invite the select board to our

[22:08] next meeting.

[22:08] >> Okay.

[22:11] Aaron, do you have anything?

[22:13] >> Nope.

[22:14] >> Antoinette?

[22:15] >> Anything?

[22:16] >> I'm all set.

[22:16] >> Yeah. I'm good. I was going to ask about

[22:18] the training cuz I thought I missed it.

[22:19] So, but

[22:22] » Like even Derek

[22:23] >> I was uh

[22:25] have a

[22:26] downtown machine where they put them in

[22:28] the back.

[22:29] The platform of the building, platform

[22:31] and the walkway with

[22:34] I thought they were going to stop the

[22:35] work

[22:36] in April. I thought they mentioned they

[22:39] were hoping to get started in April. And

[22:41] I don't see where they

[22:42] have any plans or anything on the

[22:44] bike path.

[22:45] >> He would know.

[22:47] Do you

[22:48] Anybody know have any more information

[22:49] about it?

[22:51] >> I don't know what their official plan

[22:52] is. For the other side you're talking

[22:53] about, the whitewater park?

[22:55] >> Yeah.

[22:55] >> I'm not entirely positive what's going

[22:58] on over there. I I'm pretty sure they

[22:59] they've awarded of

[23:00] but I don't know if they're

[23:01] >> They had a groundbreaking

[23:03] for the

[23:04] >> for the whitewater for the boardwalk.

[23:05] >> the boardwalk

[23:06] >> Boardwalk has started.

[23:07] >> Is that what you're talking about, the

[23:08] boardwalk?

[23:09] >> No, I'm talking about the

[23:10] >> So

[23:11] That That's on hold, the board. Yeah.

[23:13] >> There's some grant money, something,

[23:15] allocation issues. I'm not

[23:17] Could be speaking out of turn, but

[23:19] >> Yeah, that one isn't started cuz it's

[23:21] not funded fully or something.

[23:23] >> Yeah.

[23:24] >> There was some federal funding that's

[23:26] not available anymore.

[23:29] So

[23:30] that started cuz there's funding for

[23:31] that, and now there's federal funding

[23:33] coming for phase two of the boardwalk.

[23:36] Um and some of that has to do with the

[23:38] fact that they are using um

[23:42] prior to today, it's um

[23:44] a specific timber, like an engineered

[23:46] wood.

[23:47] That there's an incentive to use, so

[23:51] the boardwalk, both phase one and two,

[23:53] are going to be

[23:54] a very specific timber. Uh

[23:57] probably some sort of uh material that

[23:59] comes from the northeast.

[24:01] So they were actually able to get money

[24:02] from the Northern Border Regional

[24:03] Commission.

[24:04] >> I think some of the stuff that they

[24:05] developed at the University of Maine

[24:07] >> It's a little different, you know, I I

[24:08] was in a meeting today and people are

[24:10] talking about one of the problems with

[24:11] the a lot of this engineered wood is

[24:13] that uh

[24:14] in mass timber is the, you know,

[24:16] manufactured timber. Um

[24:18] you know, it comes from out west or it

[24:19] comes from down south, and a lot of it,

[24:21] even though they're doing a lot of the

[24:22] research at UMaine, some of the sources

[24:24] are limited uh in the northeast.

[24:27] Um so I'm kind of curious cuz there was

[24:28] just a big

[24:30] announcement of $20 million to the state

[24:33] of Maine, I think to UMaine, to do more

[24:35] you know, and I think, you know, one of

[24:37] the issues is these um

[24:40] these byproducts, and, you know, whether

[24:41] it's plywood or whether it's this

[24:43] engineered material, you know, a lot of

[24:45] it is being

[24:47] studied, developed at UMaine, but

[24:50] there's not a practical uh manufacturing

[24:52] of it in most cases yet.

[24:54] You know, so

[24:56] >> I'd like to see them start from making

[24:58] stuff out of him.

[25:00] >> Or bamboo.

[25:01] >> Yeah, I don't know bamboo. I saw

[25:04] something where one company is producing

[25:07] sheet goods to replace OSB

[25:11] or plywood basically using that product.

[25:16] They

[25:17] you know, instead of spending

[25:20] millions and millions over 5 years to

[25:22] build a big plant, they've got a system

[25:27] much less cost

[25:29] and get it going real quick and produce

[25:33] the same thing.

[25:36] But we got a lot of wood up here where

[25:37] we're at.

[25:38] >> Yeah, you know, there's not a market for

[25:40] white pine. There's not a you know,

[25:42] there's all this this byproduct

[25:44] associated with all sorts of wood. It's

[25:47] time to use it. If you look at the

[25:48] prices of white pine and some other

[25:50] wood is sort of just flatlined for

[25:53] quite a trajectory the cost.

[25:56] Good to have something.

[25:57] I do know tomorrow morning and I can

[25:59] look on my phone, there's like a a

[26:02] coffee and construction update about

[26:04] this project here.

[26:06] So I'm pretty sure it's it's downtown,

[26:08] but I can look. I just saw some

[26:09] notification about it. And again, you

[26:11] get to actually ask the contractors

[26:14] questions about what they're doing. I

[26:15] think a lot of the work was um

[26:18] you know, some demos, some removal and

[26:20] then there were some test pits dug.

[26:22] I haven't been down there in a little

[26:23] bit, but it looked like they had started

[26:25] and pulled some stuff out. Definitely

[26:28] were digging some holes and then I saw

[26:30] uh the water company down there, which I

[26:32] didn't know if that was associated with

[26:33] the project, but you remember what was

[26:35] there before.

[26:36] So I think it's a lot of old foundations

[26:38] that they just filled in and so it'll be

[26:40] interesting to see what they find when

[26:42] they get digging. So

[26:44] >> Yeah, the old river bank

[26:47] before the dam went in, it was buildings

[26:49] on both sides. I don't know. Yeah, old

[26:51] picture.

[26:51] >> [clears throat]

[26:54] » For the wheels and the whole thing.

[26:56] >> Police something.

[26:57] Treasures in there.

[27:00] >> Is that everything, Randy?

[27:01] >> Yeah.

[27:02] >> Andy,

[27:03] >> [laughter]

[27:03] >> what's that?

[27:05] >> I'm all set except for I saw something

[27:08] Clinton did sort of as a an emergency

[27:11] measure. They had

[27:13] the ag

[27:15] Was it the ag department that that shut

[27:18] down a guy's farm stand?

[27:22] >> Yeah.

[27:22] >> And because he was selling

[27:27] fresh

[27:28] milk of some sort.

[27:29] I

[27:30] So

[27:31] >> From what I saw I actually I do know I

[27:33] >> know more about it than me.

[27:34] >> I I've never I've not talked to anybody

[27:36] at Department of Ag. I just saw it on

[27:37] social media and I watched a couple of

[27:39] the videos that the person did. They

[27:41] were making some value-added farm

[27:43] products. I can't necessarily speak to

[27:45] the dairy. It sounded like maybe it was

[27:46] more baked goods and some other things

[27:48] and maybe some other things in a farm

[27:49] stand. Um

[27:51] but I think what happened and and the

[27:53] person said they were promoting it via

[27:55] social media and it was getting popular

[27:58] and so the state realized that these

[28:00] were unregulated, unlicensed products.

[28:03] So they came in and shut them down

[28:06] because of the food sovereignty laws of

[28:09] the state, if a municipality passes an

[28:12] ordinance that allows for

[28:15] um

[28:16] certain products or certain um

[28:19] I don't want I almost said loopholes and

[28:21] that's not the correct term, but it's if the municipality passes an ordinance

[28:24] that allows this,

[28:26] um

[28:27] then that type of thing is is, you know,

[28:29] the state will leave it alone and allow

[28:31] it. Um

[28:33] it'll be interesting. I think we could

[28:34] find out information

[28:36] from the town of Clinton because they

[28:38] are sort of sorting through it. I did

[28:40] watch another interview with the husband

[28:42] and wife where they were meeting, I

[28:44] believe, with the town's attorney and

[28:45] the town manager and I believe

[28:48] I think the town manager in Clinton

[28:50] lives here in Skowhegan. I think it's

[28:51] Dan who lives up on North Avenue. Yeah,

[28:53] Dan Swain. And so they were working

[28:56] through what the ordinance would be.

[28:58] Um and then I I kind of lost track of

[29:00] it, but if that town was to accept that

[29:02] ordinance, and it was interesting to

[29:04] hear the folks explain it because they

[29:06] came up with draft language, and then

[29:08] they were told by the town that their

[29:09] language was like too long and it didn't

[29:11] need to be that long. Um I know many

[29:14] other municipalities, a lot of smaller

[29:16] municipalities around the state have

[29:18] passed

[29:19] uh food sovereignty ordinances. Um

[29:22] so

[29:23] that's that's what I know.

[29:24] >> I think it's something that would be

[29:25] good for us to do.

[29:27] >> Do we we don't have uh food sovereignty

[29:29] here or do we need it?

[29:31] >> We have a We have a a state

[29:34] >> Yeah.

[29:35] >> thing, but

[29:36] the idea is

[29:38] if somebody decides to

[29:43] grow something on their land or raise

[29:46] some animals and

[29:48] sell some milk or

[29:49] >> For personal use I think it's okay.

[29:52] >> But

[29:53] you know, it's uh

[29:58] the whole

[30:02] I'm all for the freedom of people to be

[30:05] industrious

[30:06] with the land that they have.

[30:08] >> Mhm.

[30:09] >> A lot of people want to sell

[30:10] >> Huh?

[30:11] >> A lot of people want to sell it

[30:13] local grown

[30:14] >> And you know, and people know what

[30:16] they're getting. You know, they're not

[30:20] >> Might be safer than lettuce.

[30:22] >> It might be safer than a lot of things

[30:23] you're going to get in a Walmart or or

[30:26] you know

[30:27] >> ground beef recall

[30:29] at Walmart.

[30:31] >> So it it's interesting. I don't

[30:32] necessarily know the full scope of

[30:34] products they have there, but it also

[30:36] does seem like especially in Central

[30:38] Maine

[30:39] there is very much this trend of uh

[30:41] baked goods

[30:43] and uh the baked goods seem to be sold

[30:46] you know via relationships through

[30:48] social media. And they sort of have this

[30:50] local following which is very

[30:51] interesting. I I you know along the

[30:53] lines with the chairman saying I've

[30:55] always been sort of a supporter of the

[30:56] cottage industries and so I think we

[30:59] could take what Clinton is doing

[31:02] probably not have to reinvent the wheel

[31:03] let them do the work.

[31:06] They're clear I we could find out very

[31:08] quickly who their town attorney is or if

[31:11] they're working with the municipality or

[31:12] if it's

[31:13] with Cog.

[31:15] But yeah, I think it would be worth

[31:16] having a conversation. I I imagine once

[31:19] we start to have the conversation there

[31:20] will be people in town that will engage.

[31:24] You know probably on both sides and then

[31:26] there'll be some people I think that we

[31:27] could tap into.

[31:28] >> I think we have a significant farmers

[31:30] market over here that is pretty much

[31:32] doing that already.

[31:35] That

[31:36] >> Yeah.

[31:37] >> It's my understanding though that you

[31:38] know if you're going to sell baked goods

[31:39] you know any like the farmers at the

[31:41] market they have to have some sort of

[31:43] commercial kitchen license right?

[31:46] Um

[31:47] >> Yeah, we sold granola.

[31:49] >> Yep.

[31:50] >> We had to have a state

[31:51] >> Yep.

[31:52] >> It's not

[31:54] We had to have

[31:55] a couple sinks.

[31:57] Which we already had in place.

[32:00] >> Yeah.

[32:01] >> It's interesting how the towns people in

[32:04] Clinton rallied

[32:07] to get things squared away

[32:09] for the town meeting.

[32:12] That was That was I said they are

[32:18] » Anyway, that's something we could

[32:20] we can uh

[32:23] see what the mindset of uh

[32:27] the select board is concerning that.

[32:32] I'm all for things of that nature.

[32:35] Yeah, and there's some people we could

[32:36] reach out to both that are fully

[32:38] licensed, have a lot of experience, and

[32:41] then there are people that live in town

[32:42] that are very engaged in the food

[32:44] sovereignty sort of movement, and would

[32:46] have a lot of expertise, and and we

[32:49] could tap into those folks as well.

[32:52] >> I think Amber would be a good choice.

[32:57] I mean grains.

[33:00] » Hey.

[33:02] Is that good?

[33:04] Very good.

[33:05] >> [laughter]

[33:07] >> Okay, I'll entertain a motion to

[33:08] adjourn.

[33:09] >> So moved.

[33:11] >> Do we have a second?

[33:11] >> I'll run with that.

[33:12] >> You're not allowed.

[33:14] >> Oh, that's right.

[33:17] » [laughter]

[33:20] » So we got a second. All those in favor,

[33:22] please raise your hand.

[33:24] >> [laughter]

[33:25] >> We're adjourned.

[33:27] I was like, how much Aaron likes to

[33:29] remind everyone they have to do those

[33:30] types of things like swearing and see,

[33:32] you know.

[33:39] I would say the um

Planning Board Meeting 8-4-26

Transcript