The Rangeley Board of Selectmen met via Zoom on February 22nd. Based on data that indicates COVID 19 cases have diminished considerably in our area since December, the Selectmen voted to resume in-person meetings for all Town Boards and Committees.
The Town’s Remote Participation Policy requires members of the Boards or Committees to be physically present for meetings. When it is not practical for a member to be physically present due to an urgent issue or a significant difficulty traveling to the meeting location, the meeting will be held via remote methods. When a member is participating remotely the public is also allowed to participate remotely. All Board and Committee meetings are presently live streamed via Zoom. The public is allowed to view but is not permitted to participate remotely if all of the members are physically present at a meeting. Videos of the meetings are posted for viewing a few days after they occur on the Town’s website townofrangeley.com.
One hour prior to the start of the Selectmen’s February 22, 2022 meeting, a Public Workshop on Attainable Housing was held. Greg Payne, Senior Advisor on Housing Policy from the Governor’s office, gave a presentation via Zoom. Greg outlined how Maine was using some of the money it received through the American Rescue Plan Act to address housing issues. The Maine State Housing Authority created the Affordable Homeownership Program(AHP) in an effort to offer solutions to the current affordable housing crisis. This housing crisis disproportionately impacts Maine’s low and moderate income households.
Fifty million dollars has been set aside for creating new housing for 2022 and 2023. The program is intended to provide an incentive to developers to create modestly sized and priced homes. These homes are designed to appeal to first-time homebuyers and other homebuyers who earn up to 120% of the Area Median Income. The homes will be more appropriately sized and priced than many that are available today.
The Affordable Homeownership Program’s incentives to developers include forgivable loans for land acquisition costs, on-site infrastructure and construction costs. Any questions about the AHP should be directed to Mark Wiesendanger at [email protected].
The Selectmen received a proposed Short Term Rental Ordinance in their information packets. This draft ordinance was prepared by a group of local business owners and private citizens who wanted to proactively participate in the solution for short term rental concerns. The Selectmen voted to forward the proposed ordinance to the Ordinance Committee for their review, public input and recommendations. The Ordinance Committee is scheduled to meet at 5:00pm on Wednesday, March 16, 2022. The Ordinance Committee agenda as well as all other Board and Committee meeting agendas should be available on the Town’s website several days before meeting dates.
The Selectmen voted to authorize the Town Manager to sign Septic Sludge Agreements with surrounding Plantations and Counties. Rangeley is in the process of applying to the Maine Department of Environmental Protection for a license renewal to receive and dispose of septic tank sludge at the Town’s Chick Hill Pollution Control Facility. The Chick Hill Facility accepts septic tank sludge produced in the Town of Rangeley and also contracts to accept sludge from Dallas Plantation, Rangeley Plantation, Sandy River Plantation, Franklin County, Oxford County and Lincoln Plantation. The facility received 258,300 gallons in 2020 and 306,250 gallons of sludge in 2021 from the contracted entities.
The Town Manager provided a quick overview of the fiscal year 2022-2023 Budget proposal. The Selectmen held their first joint meeting with the Budget Committee to initiate the Budget review process on February 28th. Future joint meetings are scheduled for March 7th at 5:00pm and March 10th, 14th, and 16th at 6:00pm. All of the meetings will be held in person, all are live streamed via Zoom and can be viewed as a video on the Town’s webpage a few days later.
The next Board of Selectmen’s meeting is scheduled for March 7th at 6:00pm immediately following the 5:00pm Budget meeting.
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