OTISFIELD — The hearing on an appeal of the Scribner Hill telecommunications tower approval has been rescheduled due to a protest by Friends of Scribner Hill organizer John Poto.

The hearing will be held at 7 p.m. Nov. 15 in the East Otisfield Community Hall on Route 121. It was originally scheduled for Oct. 18.

Selectman Rick Micklon said Poto objected to the lack of public participation for the hearing, forcing selectmen to reconsider the format. After consulting with their attorney, selectmen decided to allow public participation.

Because the town missed its deadline for notifying abutters of the new hearing date, new notices will have to be sent out.

Friends of Scribner Hill will have the opportunity to present testimony and witnesses. The Appeals Board could also call witnesses but it’s not a public hearing where anyone can speak.

The Nov. 15 date means the issue will enter its 11th month since the Planning Board approved the permit application by U.S. Cellular. A 180-foot tower is proposed to hold equipment for cellular phone companies and the Otisfield Fire Department.

Since then, Friends of Scribner Hill and others have filed four appeals, three with the Appeals Board and one with the Oxford County Superior Court in Paris. The complaints to the Appeals Board said, among other matters, that planners did not follow town ordinance and the comprehensive plan in making their decision. The first two appeals were denied.

The appeal to the court, which took over the case in the summer, asked that the court send the case back to planners for a full hearing. The court said it will render a decision after the November appeals hearing.

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