Audience asks for details regarding the proposed St. John Valley Regional Planning Commission
By Natalie Bazinet
Staff Writer
VAN BUREN — Rep. Bernard Ayotte (R-Caswell) asked and about 25 community leaders answered: they want more information on all aspects of the proposed St. John Valley Regional Planning Commission (SJVRPC).
Aroostook Republican photo/Natalie Bazinet
Rep. Bernard Ayotte, back right, goes over informative documents supporting LD 771 with community leaders during an exploratory meeting on Aug. 5 in Van Buren.
While no part of the hour-long meeting was that cut-and-dried, the exploratory meeting held at the Van Buren Municipal Building on Aug. 5 provided prospective community participants with information on the tentative entity and allowed community leaders throughout northern Aroostook County a forum to air their questions and concerns.
The proposed SJVRPC is a potential product of LD 771, a bill Rep. Ayotte submitted to the state legislature last February, titled “An Act to Establish the St. John Valley Regional Planning Commission.”
The function of the bill is to form an entity championing the St. John Valley and its unique attributes for economic development opportunities, as Ayotte described.
He coordinated the meeting to find which communities were in support of the bill, but community leaders came prepared with hard-hitting questions about structure, funding, timeframe, purpose, even the name “St. John Valley Regional Planning Commission.”
At the same time, many in attendance were willing to stand up and agree that the communities of northern Aroostook County need to start working together if they want do bring in successful economic development opportunities. A hesitance to break partnership with the Northern Maine Development Commission (NMDC) was also expressed by some.
“United we stand and divided we’re going right down on our heads,” said one audience member.
Ayotte maintains that the proposed SJVRPC is not aimed at taking over any services currently provided by NMDC. He also informed members in attendance that the bill is gaining legislative traction — even Gov. Paul LePage penned Ayotte a letter expressing his support of LD 771.
While LD 771 clearly has a long way to go on its legislative path, it also seems to have the support of State Senator Troy Jackson (D-Allagash).
“Bernard’s got a bill here. If an issue comes up, we can change it; call [the organization] economic development, call it regional planning — these things can all be changed; there’s really no boundaries,” Jackson said toward the meeting’s conclusion.
He also explained that he is not interested in the proposed SJVRPC taking funding away from NMDC.
“I wanted this to be a supplement to NMDC, and I think that when you explain that to communities — because a lot of these communities probably have a very good relationship with NMDC and they probably don’t want to have to choose between one or the other — this could be an addition, which I don’t think would hurt at all,” Jackson added. “I think [the proposed SJVRCD] will be whatever these communities want to make it, but I definitely see it as something that could be helpful for everyone involved.”
Communities currently included in the proposed SJVRCD are Limestone, New Sweden, Stockholm, Caswell, Cyr Plantation and Van Buren, in addition to other St. John Valley communities.
