KINGFIELD – The Board of Selectmen on Monday met for a second time with residents requesting that the town form a fact-finding committee regarding the effects a possible Poland Spring bottling plant would have on Kingfield.
At a meeting on Sept. 6 with the same group of residents, selectmen agreed that an oversight and fact-finding committee could benefit the town, but they stipulated that it must be comprised of as diverse a cross section of the town as possible.
On Monday, selectmen and the group of residents, including Mark and Deborah Robie, and Win Robinson, discussed details of who will be asked to join the committee.
It was decided that it will be comprised of the three selectmen, one representative from both the Water District and the Planning Board, and five Kingfield residents.
A number of people at the meeting, including First Selectman John Dill, said the town is divided on the question of whether Poland Spring should open a plant in town. Dill said many Kingfield residents see the committee as a way for bottling plant opponents to fight a move to town by the bottling company.
Selectmen stressed the importance of choosing committee members with diverse opinions on Poland Spring’s possible move to Kingfield. “The committee will be seen as having more credibility if it’s diverse,” Selectman Neal McCurdy said.
Selectman Heather Moody added, “We need to start looking at quality of life for people (if a plant is opened in town), and not just the people who have money and chose to come here, but the guy or girl who’s just trying to feed her kids, who has to choose between rent and supper, at $6.50 an hour.”
Dill said selectmen would announce the members of the new committee at their next meeting, which is Oct. 3.
Selectmen voted to hire Doug Marble as Kingfield’s new E-911 coordinator. They also discussed the possibility of forming an alliance with Carrabassett Valley and Stratton officials to “do something regionally about traffic.”
Dill said he wanted to “compliment the citizens of Kingfield” after Town Clerk Jean Orbeton told him approximately 70 percent of the money the town voted to raise in taxes this year has been collected. This “speaks well for the citizens of town,” he said.
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