BELFAST — Two-dozen opponents of a proposed liquefied petroleum gas terminal in Searsport turned up at a Belfast City Council meeting Tuesday to ask officials to help put the brakes on the project, until a privately-funded review could be conducted.

In public comment sessions, 10 citizens from the group — most Belfast residents — urged city officials to draft a letter to the Searsport Planning Board requesting that a decision or public hearings on the LPG development wait for the results of an "All Hazards Risk Assessment" by Good Harbor, the consulting firm of former presidential security advisor Richard Clarke.

The controversy stems from plans by Colorado-based DCP Midstream to construct a 22.7-million-gallon liquefied petroleum gas (propane) tank and terminal at Mack Point in Searsport. Mack Point is one of three deep-water ports in Maine and currently home to a number of large oil storage tanks Industrial chemical manufacturer GAC Chemical operates on nearby Kidder Point.

But the LPG tank would substantially larger than anything existing at the site, prompting citizen concerns about safety, traffic, pollution and the effect of the facility on tourism. Recently the main opposition group, Thanks But No Tank, was joined by the Islesboro Islands Trust. The project has also been opposed by the town of North Haven. Belfast has not taken an official position on the development but the Council has previously sent a letter of concern and a second letter requesting the current standing of the project.

Steve Hinchman, counsel for TBNT and IIT, said the groups are pusuing three actions to block the development, ranging from challenging DCP Midstream's Department of Environmental Protection permit to federal litigation that would challenge the permit issued by the Army Corps of Engineers, which Hinchman and several other speakers said was done prior to any risk assessment.

The Good Harbor risk assessment would evaluate a wide range of natural and man-made threats to the facility and inventory the regions resources for handling various scenarios, Hinchman said.

Asked by the Council, another speaker at Tuesday night's meeting estimated the cost of the study at $100,000 with most or all of the expense underwritten by IIT.

Reactions among Belfast's city councilors varied. Councilor Eric Sanders said he personally opposes the tank and said Belfast should follow Islesboro's lead with political, if not financial support. Councilor Roger Lee said he supported drafting the letter.

Councilor Mike Hurley said he didn't mind sending the letter, but was wary of the turnout on this issue.

"It's not my first rodeo where 25 or 50 pepople show up and try to give me suggestions about what I should be doing" he said. Hurley also expressed discomfort with Belfast telling another town what to do, recounting the way adjacent towns tried to influence Belfast during discussions in the early 2000s of a big box retailer coming to the city. Hurley said he would rather see the Council have a larger discussion to consider whether the city would take a position on the tank.

Councilor Nancy Hamilton echoed Hurley's concerns about interfering with Searsport's town governance, noting that planning boards typically operate within narrow constraints of town zoning ordinances.

Councilor Marina Delune voiced support for the study but saw the letter as potentially counterproductive. Based on two previous letters sent by the city, she said, Searsport had been clear that it was not interested in the views of surrounding towns. But Delune sympathized with the sentiment of the people who came out on Tuesday night.

"My personal sense of this is that there's something not quite right," she said, adding that the industrial facility would have a "huge impact" on the area.

Sanders, who requested the topic be put on the night's agenda after hearing from a number of tank opponents, acknowledged the views expressed by Hurley and Delune but said he saw no harm in putting something in writing.

"What scares me is the rubber stamping of this project," he said. "... I don't know what's missing, but it's concerning to me and it's obviously concerning to a lot of people here tonight."

The Council voted 3-2 to send the letter, with Councilors Delune and Hamilton opposed.

On Tuesday, the Council also:

• Heard a proposal from April Lawrence to operate a paddleboarding business on the Belfast waterfront. Councilors generally approved of the idea but got hung up on Lawrence's desire to place a semi-permanent building on a portion of city-owned Heritage Park. City Planner Wayne Marshall said he typically asks businesses that want to operate on city land whether they have looked at privately owned options in the same vicinity first. The Council took no action, asking Lawrence to return with a modified plan. City Manager Joe Slocum noted in his Oct. 2 manager's report that the city received a second application for a paddleboarding business from Jonathan Clapp.

• Hired Sandy Carey for the newly created position of Belfast Transfer Station manager at a salary of $39,530. Kerry previously worked for Mid-Coast Solid Waste Corp. in Rockport. City Manager Joe Slocum said the facility is almost ready to begin accepting a wider range of plastics (numbers 1-7) but is waiting for delivery of one piece of equipment.

• Approved a first reading of an amendment to the city's code of ordinances that would require businesses with entrance thresholds with a rise of less than six inches to install handicap accessible ramps.

• Terminated a lease agreement with Brooks Preservation Society for use of the rail corridor in Belfast for excursion rail service. City Manager Joe Slocum said the proposal sounded more dramatic than it was; the lease was set to expire on Dec. 1 and Slocum said the decision to terminate the one-year lease was made amicably with BPS. "The goal of this was to prevent us from getting locked into a year where we can't do anything," he said. Slocum said his intention would be to allow rail service from the old Upper Bridge Crossing next spring if no conflicting plans existed then.

• Heard a proposal by representatives of Our Town Belfast to apply for a grant to install seating on portions of the footbridge. Elaine Bielenberg and Breanna Bebb asked the Council for general approval to pursue the first phase of what they described as an extension of OTB's downtown public art seating installation series "Please Be Seated." The Council did not vote on the proposal.

• Voted to enter into a contract with Eric Gallant of Mid-Coast Regional Planning Commission to draft amendments to City Land Use Ordinances consistent with the city's comprehensive plan. Slocum said the process would take 15-24 months and would include two public hearing per proposed zone among a number of steps. 

• Approved a first reading of changes to the city's building codes. Belfast Code Enforcement Officer Tod Rosenberg described the changes as taken "word-for-word" from state language.

Penobscot Bay Pilot reporter Ethan Andrews can be reached at ethanandrews@penbaypilot.com