Camden Select Board to consider $11.3 million 2024 budget, broadband funding, price increase for ‘pay-to-throw’ trash bags
Camden will consider a new zoning district, the Harbor Harbor Entertainment District, which allows a common consumption area in a district that has multiple entities that serve alcohol. The proposed entertainment district would be on the east side of the harbor currently owned by Lyman-Morse Boatbuilding.
Camden will consider a new zoning district, the Harbor Harbor Entertainment District, which allows a common consumption area in a district that has multiple entities that serve alcohol. The proposed entertainment district would be on the east side of the harbor currently owned by Lyman-Morse Boatbuilding.
CAMDEN – The Select Board in Camden will convene April 4 at 6:30 p.m. in the French Conference Room to discuss ordinance amendments affecting road openings and creating a 2.9 acre Harbor Entertainment District, as well as proposals to 1) spend money on connecting broadband in municipal facilities; 2) ask voters to change the municipal charter to allow the Select Board to appoint Budget Committee members – as opposed to citizens electing them; and 3) increase the cost of the yellow “pay as you throw” bags that the public uses to enclose trash in before depositing the bags at Mid-Coast Solid Waste Transfer Facility in Rockport.
The board will also consider a 2023-2024 municipal budget of approximately $11.3 million, representing a 7 to 8.5 percent increase over the current budget. See attached PDF for the meeting packet and budget.
At the Feb. 8 Mid-Coast Solid Waste Corporation board meeting, members representing Camden, Hope, Lincolnville andRockport had talked about the cost of the yellow bags, and noted that David St. Laurent, MCSWC Interim Manager is, “researching other systems and processes to use on site to reduce or maybe eliminate the costs of working with the yellow bag system.” (See attached PDF for that board’s March 29 packet,with the Feb. 8 meeting minutes.)
However, the proposed MCSWC 2024 budget includes a price increase: Small bags are to increase from $1.50 per bag to $2 per/bag, and large bags will increase from $2.50 to 3.
The proposed two charter amendments are to appear before voters at the 2024 annual town meeting, which is now held entirely by secret ballot in the voting booth. They include:
• Codifying the appointment of Budget Committee members by the Select Board, instead of through an election process. The board has already been making such appointments, given so few citizens stepping forward to run for a seat on the Budget Committee; and
• Removing specific names of budget categories from the Charter.
The Select Board will review proposed amendments to Camden’s business licensing ordinances reflects an effort, according to Camden Planning and Development Director Jeremy Martin, to streamline nine separate business licensing chapters into one chapter with two articles.
The amendments also include creating a 2.9 acre Harbor Entertainment District that allows a common consumption area in a district that has multiple entities that serve alcohol. The proposed entertainment district would land on the east side of the harbor owned by Lyman-Morse boatbuilding.
And a Road Opening Ordinance is up for consideration. This ordinance, as drafted, is to regulate public roads: “in the interest of public safety, convenience and the operation and protection of public works infrastructure. Excavation and restoration standards are required to preserve the integrity, operational safety, and functionality of public Roads. This Ordinance clearly establishes the authority of the municipality to control objects and vegetation within a public right of way.”
The broadband initiative is the next step of a 2021 project to provide high-speed internet capacity to all businesses and homes in municipalities that have joined the Midcoast Internet Development Corporation, a quasi-municipal utility to which Camden belongs.
MIDC is a regional broadband utility, with the goal of providing universal access fiber to the premise (FTTP) high-speed broadband to all homes and businesses in their service territory. The intent was not to increase property taxes to fund the build-out of the network.
MDIC has introduced its 3M Phase 1 project (see attached PDF for full report) that includes connecting municipal buildings in Camden and Rockland respectively, while expanding the initial GWI fiber build in Rockport to encompass the entirety of the village and bring fiber service down three main roads (Route 1, Route 90, and Route 17). All three projects taken together would form the foundational building blocks to expand service to more parts of the communities in the future, according to a MDIC report.
In Camden, this would mean connecting:
Town Hall/Opera House Public Landing/Harbor Master Public Safety Building
Public Works
Snow Bowl
Wastewater Department
It also includes the possibility of connecting the 295 premises it passes to affordable high-speed broadband. The network has the potential to be expanded in the future, according to a board member from Town Manager Audra Caler.
“The report from January of 2022 estimated construction costs to be $1,138,400, with the potential of being reduced to $828,400,” wrote Caler. “It should be noted that this is only a feasibility study and project costs are likely to change in the event the project progresses. The pro-forma in the attached feasibility report posits that Camden will pay the entire cost of the build-out, with revenue and expenses for the network modelled on this assumption. The report does not state how much revenue is likely to be generated by the Camden-only portion of the network.”
At the April 4 meeting, the Camden Select Board is being asked whether it wants to move the project forward to voters for funding approval.
