HARPSWELL

The Mitchell Field Water Tower has been thrown yet another lifeline, with advocates circumventing the board of selectmen to call a town meeting to redo the March vote to demolish the structure.

When offered the choice at the March town meeting of demolishing the unused tower or signing an agreement with an outside group to oversee the repair and reuse of the tower, Harpswell residents voted firmly in favor of sending the tower to the scrap heap.

But a group of Harpswell residents calling themselves the Friends of Mitchell Field claim that decision was based on misinformation and have worked tirelessly since then to force a redo of that vote.

The petition

In April, the group submitted 351 valid signatures — more than required by law — to the town calling for another vote. While the presentation of a petition with enough votes legally requires the town to call a town meeting, Town Attorney Amy Tchao informed the selectmen in May that courts had outlined some exemptions where towns could reject otherwise valid petitions. Tchao noted that a court had upheld the right of a town to reject such a petition if it sought to redo a recent vote.

Believing that case applied to their present situation, the selectmen voted 2- 1 at the time to reject the petition, saying the March town meeting vote should be upheld. Selectmen Chairman Rick Daniel reiterated his belief that the Friends of Mitchell Field were simply unsatisfied with the result of that vote.

“I believe you and your group are absolutely unwilling to take no for an answer,” said Daniel.

When reached for comment, Friends of Mitchell Field member Robert McIntyre denied that, saying that if the new article was rejected on Aug. 11 the group would drop the issue and allow the demolition to take place.

In April, Tchao warned selectmen that if they refused to call a town meeting, a rarely used provision of Maine law would allow the petitioners to do so by a notary public.

“This is a very odd and unusual provision of Maine law,” said McIntyre. “It is almost unprecedented for a select board to refuse a valid petition.”

After the selectmen dismissed a request to reconsider the petition last Thursday, representatives of Friends of Mitchell Field announced that they were calling a town meeting on Aug. 11 pursuant to that provision.

As written, the new article would repeal the March vote to demolish the water tower and authorize selectmen to enter into an agreement with Friends of Mitchell Field to oversee repair and reuse of the water tower for five years, with possible extensions.

At March town meeting, voters had been asked whether they wanted selectmen to make an agreement with an undetermined group to oversee management, repair and reuse or have it demolished. The majority in attendance picked demolition.

Lead levels

Among other things, the group has claimed that the town has misled the public on the amount of lead in the structure. The group recently had two chips of paint from the water tower tested which showed low levels of lead on the structure. According to Dorothy Rosenberg, a member of Friends of Mitchell Field, this is different than claims made at town meeting that high lead levels made the cost of repairing and reusing the tower exorbitant.

“The reason that this is important … is that if there is a high level of lead content in the paint on the water tower it would require full encapsulation in order to either remove the paint and repaint it or demolish it,” said Rosenberg on Thursday.

According to Rosenberg, if lead levels are on the higher end, demolition costs could be far greater than expected. On the other hand, if lead levels are on the lower end, the cost to repaint and repair the water tower are far lower than what was estimated. Either way, she argued, the decision made at town meeting was not made with the full information necessary.

If that is true, she said, the cost estimates for renovation of the tower were “much too high, by about 100 percent.”

Chairman Daniel noted that it’s unclear whether that information would have swayed any votes at town meeting.

What’s next?

Because the town meeting has been called by the citizens and not the selectmen, the cost of running the election will fall on the nonprofit group.

“My understanding of it is that the Friends of Mitchell Field will be the poor suckers that foot the expenses of mounting this meeting,” said McIntyre, a member of the group who has represented them before the selectmen several times.

But whether the meeting will take place remains to be seen, as Tchao noted selectmen could argue against it in court, saying they acted reasonably in rejecting the petition, since it sought to redo a recent vote, and have the August town meeting invalidated.

When reached Monday, Town Administrator Kristi Eiane said that the town was weighing its legal options.

“The special town meeting warrant, which was presented to the board Thursday night, has been referred to the town’s legal counsel,” Eiane said. “Essentially the selectmen will wait for advice from counsel on what if any action the board should consider taking.”

“I am contemplating the information and actions that have transpired as they pertain to the common good as a whole versus the uncommon pursuit of the minority as reflected in the 2018 town meeting vote, prior to the select board meeting with the town’s attorney,” Daniel said in a statement.

Town’s response

• TOWN ADMINISTRATOR Kristi Eiane said that the town was weighing its legal options.

“The special town meeting warrant, which was presented to the board Thursday night, has been referred to the town’s legal counsel. Essentially the selectmen will wait for advice from counsel on what if any action the board should consider taking.”