Busy Weekend in Otisfield

If you have been following the drama in Otisfield, Maine, you were aware that this weekend voters had the opportunity to decide on a revised Wireless Telecommunications Facility, and whether to amend the town’s tower appeals proves. 140 voters packed into the Community Hall for the annual town meeting where they defeated the plan to send tower appeals directly to Superior Court, but passed the revised ordinance. With a 75-10 vote, the revised ordinance was approved, which better defined terms relating to new wireless facilities and reduce the notification requirements about cell tower siting. “We’re signing away our rights to a lot of money that would help a lot of people in this town,” Kristen Roy said, who is a longtime opponent of the siting process. “It’s not in the best interest of our town.”(Sun Journal) Roy recently submitted a four and a half inch binder of documents for the Board of Selectmen to review regarding the cell tower siting process. The Sun Journal reported, “Board of Selectmen Chairman Hal Ferguson said the 16-month study concluded that the revisions were in the best interest of the town. Many residents balked at a plan to change the appeals process for a cell tower siting, saying their rights were being usurped. Selectmen said it would not only expedite the appeal process but reduce legal costs for the town by sending an appeal directly to Superior Court.” However, the request to send an appeal directly to Superior court was narrowly voted down in a 41-48 vote, because the majority felt everyone should have the right to one appeal.