AUGUSTA (AP) – Still favoring the siting of a liquefied natural gas terminal somewhere in Maine, Gov. John Baldacci said Friday that communities should take the lead in the development of any new proposal.

“I don’t want this to be something that communities feel is being forced,” Baldacci said in an impromptu interview just three days after Harpswell residents soundly rejected a referendum that would have allowed a $350 million LNG terminal to be built. “It’s up to the communities to respond.”

Toward that end, Baldacci said state officials would be available for consultation and to provide assistance to towns interested in an LNG facility.

In a statement, Baldacci said state officials would “defer heavily to local governments as key decision-makers regarding affirmative support of any particular proposal.”

The Harpswell project was promoted by Fairwinds, a venture of TransCanada and ConocoPhillips.

In the aftermath of Tuesday’s vote in Harpswell, the Baldacci administration signaled that Sears Island in Searsport remained of interest.

According to the administration, Searsport offers a state-owned parcel of land that has already attracted attention by LNG developers.

At the same time, officials note that Sears Island is also a potential site for other developments and that the state has undertaken discussions with the town to develop a management plan for the whole island. The administration says the state will not enter into any formal agreement with an LNG developer over town objections.

“While I continue to support the potential of LNG facilities to bring good-paying jobs and clean energy to Maine, I have been reminded of the need to use economic development as a tool to bring communities together, rather than to allow it create divisions between neighbors,” Baldacci said in a statement.

“I continue to hope that those Maine communities with exceptional economic potential will step to the plate to bring prosperity to the state as a whole,” Baldacci said.

Without naming names, Baldacci also said an LNG energy project “may bring breakthrough opportunities for certain towns in Washington County.”

In both the administration statement and in his own interview comments, Baldacci indicated that he believed the Harpswell town vote offered valuable lessons.

“I don’t think anything went wrong in Harpswell,” he said.

AP-ES-03-12-04 1448EST