Edgecomb residents voted down a proposed commercial building moratorium at the town meeting Saturday, May 17. The proposal has generated a lot of controversy in recent weeks.

"You're going to hear the term illegal mentioned a lot," said Stott Carleton who read a prepared statement. "I think it's illegal not to allow citizens to speak out at Planning Board meetings, and illegal to borrow ordinances from other towns when considering the biggest project ever approved in Edgecomb."

Stott said that everyone has the right to petition their government, and the citizen's petition for the moratorium was a cry for help.

Before discussion on the article continued, moderator Ervin Snyder read a letter from the Maine Municipal Association, as requested by Selectman Stuart Smith. The letter noted problems with the wording of the citizens' petition and questioned its legality and the ability of the town to enforce it if it was voted in.

Planning Board member Barry Hathorne said, "The ordinances and comprehensive plan need work. Right now we are a yes board with what we have."

One of the authors of the petition, Samantha McGow, said that it appears that there is a divide in Edgecomb, and that what was intended with the petition was to start a conversation between residents and developers so that the town could operate harmoniously.

Sue Carlton, chair of the Comprehensive Plan Committee, said that the Comprehensive Plan is being developed using responses from a survey sent to Edgecomb residents. She urged residents to vote down the moratorium and instead voice their concerns and opinions to the committee.

Roger Bintliff, who currently owns the site where a recently approved 54-unit assisted living facility will be built, stressed that development is happening in the designated commercial zones, and that once the TIF [Tax Increment Financing] is paid off, Edgecomb will be seeing between $200,000 to $300,000 extra per year from tax revenue on Davis Island. Bintliff also said that he, too, is a resident of Edgecomb and is concerned about its future. He invited people to drive through the resort and contact him to discuss problems or thoughts that they might have.

Michael Mayne of Edgecomb Boatworks said if residents decided to approve the moratorium, "it will not allow me to increase my business this year, which I could do. This is going to hurt my business in a big way."

Despite urging from the planning board, and numerous residents, Article 15, which sought to continue the Town Planner's contract for another year at a cost of $30,000, failed to gain support and was voted down.

"It's not an issue of job performance," said Selectman John Johnson. "We had to make changes in the budget; we were looking at a tax increase of 25 percent," he continued.

"You will not have someone to look at sites, applications, respond to e-mail or phone calls, and no one to sit and review public documents with individuals," said Katharine Braid, Planning Board Chair. "If this is voted down, be civil and polite to planning board members when they can't do the same things that are provided now."

Another citizen's petition, Article 44, was also voted down by residents. The article sought to raise and appropriate $87,112 to pay off state liens on the former Lallis property. Selectmen advised against the petition and instead recommended negotiating with the state to reduce the amount of the liens. Residents voted in favor of trading a portion of the property with the Boothbay Region Land Trust, for the former Church property, which abuts the Schmidt preserve and will allow for southern access to the land trust from the McKay Road, after the liens have been resolved.

Article 11, Town Salaries, passed, but with quite a bit of discussion surrounding a new secretarial position proposed by selectmen. The article sought $4,000 to be used to hire someone to take minutes during selectmen's meetings.

Jo Cameron, who has just finished six years of service as a selectman, has been taking minutes, but she is now stepping down. Residents decided that $4,000 was too much, however, and amended the article, so that an additional $2,000 was added to the tax collector position, and the secretarial salary was reduced to $2,000.

All other articles passed with minimal discussion. On Friday, May 16 voters passed the school budget and elected the following town officials by secret ballot: Jack Sarmanian and John Johnson, selectmen; Claudia Coffin, Treasurer and Town Clerk; Deborah Boucher, Tax Collector; Dirk Poole, School Committee; and David Boucher, Planning Board.