PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — City councilors convened on Wednesday to reverse the appointments of two of their members to the board that runs the industrial park, citing broadly written rules that raise conflict of interest concerns.
The body voted 6-0 on Jan. 24 to reverse the appointments of Councilors Gary Nelson and Craig Green. Three weeks ago, the councilors made the appointments because they thought it would have been helpful to have members experienced in business and the dealings of the park to sit on the Industrial Council.
But the bylaws governing the park were written so broadly that shareholders or owners of stock in companies located at the park are not able to serve on the board of directors, Green said. The shareholder can include stock ownership or simply have mutual funds.
Green took his name off for appointment to the Industrial Council because he owns mutual funds. Nelson owns property with his family-owned business Aroostook Trusses Inc. on Skyway Industrial Park. Industrial Council President Scott Norton sent a note to City Council Chair Kevin Freeman saying that Nelson’s appointment does not comply with the bylaws.
The language of the Industrial Council bylaws were problematic to Green because they don’t clearly define the term shareholder. He called them “general and so not well written.”
Green argued that other members of the Industrial Council could have a conflict of interest due to ownership of stocks of companies like Pepsi, Coca-Cola and Frito-Lay that have locations in the Industrial Park. Each company has stocks on the commonly traded S&P 500.
Nelson’s appointment to the Industrial Council would put other directors of the Industrial Council in a bad position because their decisions don’t always align with the business interests of owners in the Industrial Park, Industrial Council director Frank Bemis said.
The appointment of city councilor Nelson to the Industrial Council was discussed at multiple Industrial Council meetings where it was decided his appointment would not be appropriate, Bemis said. That was because the body would have to evaluate every decision made to see if Nelson had a conflict of interest, he said.
“The spirit of the [Industrial Council] bylaws should remain in my opinion,” Bemis said.
Nelson countered by saying that fellow business owners and renters would have welcomed a property owner to represent their interests on the Industrial Council.
Freeman wants the City Council and the Industrial Council to meet at a later date to discuss possible changes to the bylaws of the Industrial Council. A draft of the changes would get sent to the Industrial Council board of directors for review.
Recommendations were made to the City Council to make changes to the Industrial Council bylaws to include two members of the city council and the city manager serve on the board of directors, which passed in 2022 by city council with a 6-0 vote.
The changes to the Industrial Council bylaws were made during an annual review of the Industrial Council, according to Freeman.
