BRUNSWICK
Brunswick residents can weigh in tonight on proposed food vendor and taxi fee hikes, in addition to the town’s emergency moratorium on marijuana stores, growing centers and social clubs.
Two public hearings are on tonight’s agenda.
Councilors approved Nov. 21 setting a 50-day moratorium on recreational marijuana use. The council could extend the moratorium another 180 days.
Maine voters Nov. 8 approved a referendum making it legal for adults 21 and over to buy up to 2 1/2 ounces of marijuana. Sales of edible pot and social clubs where marijuana would be used are allowed, per Question 1, yet a municipality can ban both legal pot sales and pot-friendly social clubs.
Public input is sought on proposed fee hikes in Brunswick’s Master Fee Schedule. Fees were last updated in 2006. Finance Director Julie Henze suggests in an earlier report to Town Manager John Eldridge a $75 increase for prepared food sellers on a public way, and a $500 increase for vendors selling food at the Mall and Farmers Market. Taxicab and carriage license increases range from $5 to $15. Horse-drawn carriage fees also would rise.
Also tonight:
• A citizens’ advisory committee will update will provide an update on their work researching whether to recommend rehabilitation or replacement of the Brunswick-Topsham Frank J. Wood Bridge
• The council may review a combined $33 million school building project. A new elementary school to replace the Coffin School is projected to cost $28 million. Adjacent to Coffin is Brunswick Junior High School, which needs $5.7 million in repairs. A public hearing will be held Jan. 17, 2017 regarding financing $33 million in bonds for two different school projects.
• The council may set a March 2017 hearing on a proposed ordinance banning plastic, single-use bags
• Brunswick’s three-year review of its zoning ordinances is in its last stages, and the planning board will advise councilors whether more work is necessary. The zoning ordinance rewrite paves the way for future land use plus residential and commercial development in town.
• Town Manager John Eldridge will update the council on closure costs and developments related to the town’s Graham Road landfill. The landfill is 32 years old and its processing system can no longer meet current Department of Environmental Protection standards.
The meeting begins at 7 p.m., 85 Union St., Town Hall.
The agenda and meeting packet is available online at brunswickme.org/departments/ town-council.
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