Houlton council hears concerns

HOULTON, Maine — Public comments were the bulk of the Houlton Town Council meeting on Oct. 9.
Tammy Tompkins, owner of the BBQ Shack, felt an injustice was done to her business during the Harvest Festival on Oct. 6.
“As of Saturday morning, everything was cancelled and put into town square,” said Tompkins. “We were not given notice. We had no clue. We came in. We set up and figured we’d be serving breakfast, but the Riverfront Park Committee decided they were moving it to town square and out of the park where I thought it was supposed to have been.”
Tompkins said the only changes she was aware of with the Harvest Festival were the band wouldn’t be playing and the beer tent would not be in the park, as well as the time to finish was changed from 9 p.m. to 5 p.m.
“All of a sudden, this was done,” she added. “I have a lot of money involved in this and I’d like to know why? What the problem is? What have I done to these people? I don’t know them. I feel the BBQ Shack itself, along with myself, is being attacked.”
Councilor Mike Jenkins apologized to the Tompkins.
“I am sorry for what happened,” he said. “Hopefully, it won’t happen again. The Riverfront Park Committee is not appointed by the council and they have no standing at all in the park to decide who goes there. Riverfront Park Committee is a charitable organization that has done a lot of work there.”
Chairman Paul Cleary asked Interim Town Manager Cathy O’Leary to meet with the two parties to find a solution.
O’Leary met with Tompkins and it was decided that moving forward, the town officials will provide communication to the concession vender whenever there is a scheduled event in the park.
The next speaker addressed Houlton’s change in guard.
“I would like to say that our present [interim town manager] — Cathy O’Leary — who has been here for many years — is  an outstanding town manager. [She has] relieved so many that’s gone. I can only say one word, this very nice person here who is going to take her place, I hope that he does as well as she has,” said Phil Bernaiche.
“She’s been open to the public and a lot of town managers haven’t. She has.” he said. “Can you imagine me saying something nice about somebody … shocks me. But, I have no alternative but to say the truth. [It’s] been very pleasant being around her. She is respectful. [There] are a lot of us that aren’t that respectful. The new town manager, I can’t say too much about him, they say he’s pretty good. But, I will let you know that in two or three months.”
Bernaiche also questioned the change to the Downtown Revolving Loan Fund.
“It doesn’t say how much you can borrow,” he said. “That is kind of vague.”
Closing public comments, the council then approved signing the Election Warrant, along with authorizing the Registrar of Voters to be available at the town office during the hours the Town Clerk’s Office is open for the purpose of registering voters.
O’Leary noted the polling place in Houlton is the Gentle Memorial Building and it will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 6.
“This is posted throughout the town,” she added.
Residents can register to vote on Election Day or before Election Day during the regular Town Office hours Monday through Friday 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. and on Thursday, Nov. 1 from 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. It’s also the last day to get an absentee ballot.
The council amended the Downtown Revolving Loan Fund rules as funding opportunities are: Low-interest loans from the revolving fund to improve heating systems and perform other energy efficient upgrades and building improvements to the downtown.
The original maximum loan amount was $20,000. With the amendment passing, 6-0, a low-interest loan will be given on a case by case basis, said O’Leary.
“Basically, the loan amount has no maximum,” explained Cleary. “If  $100,000 is available, [a business] can put in a request for that amount [or lower]. We will then look at NMDC, SADC and the Community Development director to decide whether to loan that amount or up to that amount.”
Councilor Nancy Ketch injected, “It is based on credit worthiness, as part of the evaluation.”
“Hopefully, it opens up more possible things [to] be done downtown,” Cleary added.
During councilor remarks, John White, Jr. thanked O’Leary for a job well done, which was echoed by all council members.
“You’ve done a great job filling in,” he said. “It’s been very informative [as all] councilors [were kept] informed to what is going on. With what we dealt with in the past, hopefully, Gene will continue that.”
Councilor Sue Tortello added, “her deep thanks for all the time” O’Leary has given to the town in the last few months.
“I know it wasn’t easy, but you made it look so,” she said.
Ketch added, “We are lucky to have someone of your caliber to step in at a moment’s notice and run things as smoothly as you have.”
O’Leary thanked the department heads and employees for their support during the interim, along with the council for their support and confidence.
“Thank you Phil for the kind words,” she said. “And Gail [Cleary], I appreciate all your hard work.”
The next council meeting will be Monday, Oct. 22 at 6:30 p.m. in the town chambers.