OTISFIELD – Progress on the proposed Camp Manasseh has again been delayed.
Camp officials, who first came before the Planning Board more than a year ago, completed the paperwork required by the board last month and were to appear before the board again Tuesday for a site review.
However, board Chairman Richard Micklon postponed discussion of the camp until the board’s next meeting, on Aug. 16.
In a July 12 e-mail to Dan Simoneau, whose nonprofit corporation, Manasseh Inc., proposed the camp, Micklon stated that since state lakes biologist Scott Williams wouldn’t be able to attend the board’s meeting on Tuesday, “We feel unable to make any further substantive review or informative decisions on your pending application.”
Micklon said Simoneau had not responded to the e-mail. At Micklon’s suggestion, Simoneau didn’t attend Tuesday’s meeting.
In other business, the board did not accept an application from Gordon Chamberlain for a residence-based business at his Peaco Hill Road home. Chamberlain’s application to start the “Ole Fashun Tire Swing Company” raised many questions from the board that Chamberlain wasn’t present to answer. Micklon said the board “has in the past agreed not to make a decision or to make a no vote” when an applicant is not present.
The board questioned how and where the tires would be stored, and noted that tires left uncovered can provide a breeding ground for mosquitoes. Micklon also questioned Chamberlain’s statement on the application that no waste would be generated by the business. Micklon said the next step for Chamberlain will be to resubmit his application and to appear before the board to answer the questions.
Subdivision
Craig Higgins, an environmental engineer with Development Services Inc., appeared before the board on behalf of North Country Land Inc. for a preliminary review of a proposed subdivision. The subdivision would be on 70 acres on Powhattan Road, just south of the junction with Route 121. It would have 14 single-family house lots, averaging five acres each, with the smallest lot at 3.4 acres. An existing 60-foot right-of-way from Powhattan Road would lead to a loop road.
The project would also have a 1.49-acre recreation area and a 100-foot “no cut” buffer around the entire subdivision. Higgins said that the no-cut zone would protect the privacy of abutters by keeping residents from clearing trees near the property lines.
The right-of-way passes through land owned by Robert and Pat Blake. As originally planned, the Blakes said, the proposed road would have gone through the foundation of the old Gerrish farm, the home of one of the first settlers in Otisfield.
Higgins said that the road has been moved to avoid the site. “I understand there’s a lot of town history in that area,” he said.
The Planning Board scheduled a public site walk on Aug. 16 at 5:30 p.m.
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