FARMINGTON — About a dozen citizens attended the Planning Board meeting Monday to voice questions and concerns about two site review applications, one for McDonald’s and the other for the University of Maine at Farmington.

A site review application for a proposed razing and rebuilding of McDonald’s at 303 Main St. was postponed because the applicants were unable to make it to the meeting due to the weather.

The board set a public hearing on the matter for 6 p.m. March 9 at the Municipal Building.

People are concerned about McDonald’s exits and entrances, but there isn’t much to be done about it, Planning Board member Craig Jordan said. 

Those present Monday also were concerned about the aesthetics of the proposed building, just as they were for the new Rite Aid building just down the street, he said.

Several neighbors to a proposed biomass central energy plant at UMF came to voice concerns about the heating plant fitting in with the village residential zone.

The plant is proposed for construction in a campus parking lot at the corner of Quebec and Perkins streets.  

Vibrations and noise created by delivery trucks traveling down Quebec Street raised concerns from Frances Harton, who lives across the street from the proposed plant.

“I’ll have a power plant in my front yard,” she said.

Her home is close to the road and directly across from the proposed plant’s location.

Residents also took issue with access to the location on narrow town roads. A tractor-trailer carrying 30 tons of wood chips would have to negotiate narrow intersections and pass by an elementary school on Middle Street, some residents said.

The traffic flow has not been determined, Mark Powers of Trane Engineering said.

He estimated 10 deliveries of wood chips a week during peak heat needs in the winter. About 4,000 tons of locally produced wood chips are used during a heating season from October to April.

Residents asked if other locations for the plant had been considered.

There were other possible sites, but they would require more piping at a loss of heat and at a greater expense, said Thomas Perkins of Dirigo Architectural Engineering.

“It sounds like a wonderful plan but a lousy location,” board member Gloria McGraw said.

Board members wanted to see some specific details brought up when discussion continues at the March 9 meeting. These included changes to the architectural facade to make it fit in with the neighborhood.

They also wanted to see examples of other stand-alone plants and ways to build the 50-foot stack, as well as more information on sound, lighting, truck noise and plant access routes.

The plan was considered to help keep the cost of education down by reducing the expense of heating campus buildings, Perkins said.

The University Board of Trustees accepted the plan based on a payback within 10 years.

abryant@sunmediagroup.net 

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