Wiscasset selectmen decided Tuesday night to ask owners of the Point East i-park for permission to fix a drainage problem at the entrance to the park road.

Road Commissioner Bob Blagden said he noticed the problem of water running down onto the road from Lot 4 at the park two years ago. The road is located near the end of the Ferry Road on about 400 acres of land once owned by the Maine Yankee nuclear power plant.

Rynel is the only company that has located in the park so far. Company president Jim Dieter attended the meeting to talk about the importance of fixing the drainage problem. Traffic in and out of the park has grown in the last two years, he said, because the number of employees has increased from a little over 30 to about 50. The company runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week, he said.

Referring to Dieter, Town manager Arthur Faucher said, "This gentleman has some large vehicles going in and out of the park. The water drains down across the road, and in the winter it freezes."

Faucher said he has been trying for some time to find a solution to the problem. One of the things he learned, he said, is that the town overlooked an important detail - the town never took ownership of the road, which it should have done to comply with the bonding process. Bonds were sold to raise money to build the road and the utilities.

George Green asked, "Why can't we go back and get the engineer to fix this?"

"We tried that," Faucher said. The town then asked the engineering firm of Oest Associates to come up with a couple of options to fix the problem. Both of these options were explained, but Blagden suggested a less costly fix would be to dig a swale alongside the road to catch the water, then send it by underground pipe to a culvert which goes underneath the Ferry Road. The selectmen agreed the town should get permission from Point East to do the work, although Blagden said this would not be a permanent fix.

"The only way to really fix this is to re-grade the road and re-pave it," Blagden said.

Former selectman Karl Tarbox suggested that the selectmen look at some options to try to get more tenants into the i-park.

Tarbox quoted Point East's Scott Houldin as saying at a meeting on July 17, "We tried marketing the business park, but it didn't work out," during an explanation of why the company had decided to build a coal gasification plant.

Referring to Point East, Tarbox asked, "Are they still marketing the industrial park or have they given up?"

Faucher said, "I don't know if they are marketing. I know we aren't," he said, referring to the town.

"How do we get out of this mess?" Tarbox asked. Projections made by the town two years ago showed the town receiving $400,000 in taxes from the park, when it is now getting only about $60,000, he said.

"Maybe it's time to readjust the amount of the TIF (Tax Increment Financing) we are offering." Referring to the $2.75 million loan the town gave Point East with five percent interest, he said, "We could have put that money in the reserve account and done better than this."

Noting that the park development happened before he became town manager, Faucher asked, "How much of the obligation or responsibility for promoting the park is the private sector's responsibility."

"I think part of the responsibility is in the public sector," Tarbox said.

Selectman Bill Curtis agreed.

"'We can't just sit back and do nothing," he said.

In other business, the selectmen heard about two small change orders amounting to about $1,300 in a $598,000 capital improvement project at the Wiscasset Municipal Airport. Selectman Bill Curtis, a former member of the Airport Committee, asked Muchmore a number of questions about the condition of the runway. Muchmore said the contract is not closed out yet, and he plans to make sure a number of items are fixed.

The selectmen went along with Curtis' suggestion to withhold further payments to the contractor until the "punch list" of items to be fixed has been addressed.

The selectmen approved taking slightly over $23,000 out of the Larrabee Fund for the school music program.

Planning Director Jeff Hinderliter explained proposed changes to the town's comprehensive plan which will be voted on in January. They relate to the natural resources section and the goals, policies and strategies section. The state has asked that more information be provided on both of these. The plan has been declared consistent with the state's Growth Management Act, which is tantamount to the state approving the plan. The ability of the town to secure state grants is greatly enhanced if the plan is approved.

The selectmen agreed to set the fine for parking in front of a fire hydrant at $100 (the currently fine is not specified). The selectmen also agreed to ask the Ordinance Review Committee and the Transportation Committee to review parking restrictions on High Street. Cars parked on both sides of the street, usually when the county court is in session, makes it very difficult for emergency vehicles to get through, Lieutenant John Allen said.

An "off premises liquor license" was approved for the Wiscasset Wine Outlet, a new business owned by Luann and William Clifford who purchased the former Canfield's Restaurant/Frugal Fashions building on Route 1.

The Shellfish Warden was given a huge raise from $10.81 an hour to $11 an hour. Wow.