City Council names
Strategic Planning Board members
By Kathy McCarty
Staff Writer
PRESQUE ISLE — During its Dec. 6 meeting, City Council named members to the Strategic Planning Board. The following citizens were confirmed:
• Calvin Hall and Tom Gagnon were appointed as citizens by unanimous vote from the list of four candidates (Hall, who will vacate his Council seat at the end of the year, abstained from the vote);
• Chad Gray was appointed representing Walmart as large employer;
• Brent Andersen of the University of Maine at Presque Isle was confirmed as a Planning Board member;
• Miles Williams of Maine Public Service was confirmed as a member of the Presque Isle Area Chamber of Commerce;
• Scott Viollette was confirmed as a member of the Downtown Advisory Board;
• Mark White was confirmed as a member of the Recreation Board;
• Carolyn Dorsey-Durepo and Larry LaPlante were confirmed for the higher education seat and will share one vote on the Board;
• Connie Sandstrom was appointed and confirmed as an ACAP member;
• Sylvia Getman was confirmed to represent The Aroostook Medical Center; and
• Jennifer Trombley and Don Gardner were confirmed to the Board as representing City Council.
Council also discussed a number of other issues during the first meeting of the month. Prior to the regular meeting, councilors met in executive session to discuss labor negotiations. Several updates to Chapter 25 of the building code were passed by unanimous vote.
First hearings were held to amend Chapter 48 of the city’s General Assistance Ordinance and the Land Use and Development Code, with a second hearing set for Jan. 3, 2011.
Council approved the consent agenda items by unanimous decision.
Applications for solid waste collection licenses were approved for: Edgar J. LeBlanc, d/b/a Star City Sanitation Inc.; Pine Tree Waste; Gilford A. Berube, d/b/a Gil’s Sanitation, Inc.; and Jack Hebert, d/b/a McNeal’s Trucking.
By unanimous vote, councilors reaffirmed the appointment of Deborah Ouellette to serve as interim city clerk.
Councilors discussed scheduling public hearings on the request to appoint the Presque Isle Community Players as the designated arts entity for the city, as well as dates to discuss adopting a Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) Ordinance.
Council heard the Planning Board’s recommendation for a proposed zoning amendment to restore Agricultural Farm Zone (AFZ) designation to four parcels at the intersection of the Jamieson Road and U.S. Route 1, with public hearings to be scheduled at a later date.
A request by resident Nelson Caron for a new street light on Strawberry Bank Road was tabled by unanimous consent at the recommendation of City Manager Jim Bennett because Caron was not in attendance. Bennett indicated citizens should be given an opportunity to make comments before a vote is taken.
The audit bid for 2010-12 was awarded to Runyon, Kersteen & Ouellette and the city’s audit policy was amended by unanimous vote.
Council unanimously approved a resolution on the disposition of seven tax-acquired properties from maturing 2008 tax liens. Councilors also unanimously endorsed and accepted at COPS grant.
Councilors approved the sale of city-owned land to Skyway Trailer Park Inc., under terms negotiated by Presque Isle Industrial Council Director Larry Clark.
