By Dawn De Busk

Staff Writer

CASCO — It’s all about getting educated about the subject.

Currently in Casco, the subject is the comprehensive plan process.

Now, that the comp plan has been approved as it was at Casco Special Town Meeting on Jan. 30, ‘what is the next step?’ is the question lots of people are asking. Even Casco Select Board members are asking for the next course of action to be clarified. One part of next step is putting together an implementation committee; and nine seats have been advertised. Another part of the whole picture is hiring a company that deals with educating and guiding the town’s citizens, particularly the volunteers on a future Casco Comp Plan Implementation Committee.

Some of the answers to the next-step question are written in the matrix of the comp plan document — as pointed out by Rae-Anne Nguyen, who worked on Steering Committee for two years.

“The implementation matrix is 50 pages long . . . I urge people to look at that. See that it isn’t a quick thing. It’s going to take a long time,” Nguyen said.

Two weeks ago, the Casco Select Board tabled hiring the planning firm, Maine Design Workshop, to assist with the next step of the comp plan, putting together the Implementation Committee.

On Tuesday, it was tabled again as the select board put out the word it wanted feedback from the community via e-mails on the roles and duties of the professional planner helping the citizens with the adopted comp plan.

On Feb. 6, the decision to hire a firm for the education and implementation phase of the comp plan was postponed. The reason was so that more citizens could speak on the topic. That certainly happened during the select board’s second meeting of the month, when the topic was discussed for close to 45 minutes by both the board and residents.

(It should be clarified that on Feb. 6, the board did vote to contract with Maine Design Workshop for part-time planning services which include assisting the Casco Planning Board and the Casco Code Enforcement office on an as-needed. This is an entirely separate contract from the part-time work associated with the comp plan.)

In the end, the board voted, 5-0, to table hiring Maine Design for the comp plan process assistance, and to give citizens two weeks to e-mail their opinions. The e-mail address will be provided via Town of Casco’s Facebook page.

The agenda item opened with Selectman Grant Plummer expressing a need to better understand the process.

“I’m still feeling like I am not understanding the implementation process: Who, when, how, and how that involves the person that we are talking about,” he said. “For me, we’ve reached out to try to get some people interested in being part of that committee. I just haven’t seen how this plays out. What is the rush? The thing I hear from others in the community is: ‘What is the rush?’ Is it that important to dive right in?”

“My business sense is: If we hire someone for this role, do we hire the first one who does a proposal? Or do we go with RFP’s and align ourselves with the right individual to guide us through the process,” Plummer

Resident Trevor Tidd spoke.

“Development is happening, and it will happen. I am thinking that the comp plan, if implemented successfully, will help to control development,” he began. “I have learned a lot about the municipal pace. I appreciated the work of the architect of plan, Maine Design Workshop — and the town staff to do what is right for the community.”

“The need for planning services for the town is evident. Planning services shouldn’t be a´ La carte, but holistic,” Tidd said. “But this proposal is very specific. I urge the board to take a big picture look at what our planning needs are and find the best planner for our community.”

He also addressed the formation of the implementation committee.

“We were talking about doing some interviews in early 2024. We have skipped the subject of an implementation committee. That is flawed. It risks alienating those who aren’t in love with the comp plan,” he said. “To get nine people on the committee is a difficult request when only 60 people showed up for [special] town meeting,” he concluded.

Earlier, his neighbor Sam Brown had spoke, saying he had applied for the implementation committee prior to the deadline as requested, and had not heard back from anyone.

Pam Edwards, who sat on the comp plan steering committee, provided some recommendations. First, the town should budget money in the upcoming fiscal year  to hire a full-time planner. In the meantime, the company that started off the comp plan process could help hand over the reins.

“It would be great to have her behind the scenes helping the select board,” until a planner is hired, Edwards said. 

Resident Amy Brown shared her opinion.

“The process was rigid, more divisive that it needs to me. There were a number of people who had problems with the language, and were repeatedly told, ‘This is living document. When a change is made, you will have time to be heard.’ There is a lot at stake regarding the relationship between the board and the citizens,” Brown said.

“To me, having the same person who created the plan implementing it makes me feel uncomfortable. I would rather see new faces and new voices,” she said.

Eugene Connolly agreed about encouraging new faces. He challenged residents to speak out and get involved in this process. 

“You have to have a number of committees working together. The townspeople want a quaint area. That is why we live here,” he said. “You have to be involved. You can work on ordinances and tighten them up. The Town of Casco is vulnerable. We need to tighten things up to say [in an ordinance] the way we want the town to look like. You have the final say.”

“There can be many faces on that committee,” Connolly said.

Select Board member Robert MacDonald also weighed in.

“Getting down what the people of Casco wanted in that aspect Vanessa did a good job. She knows the plan. She can best lead us in the implementation,” he said. 

“I was so committed to this that I am going to put my name in the hat for being on the implementation committee.” MacDonald said.

“I also think that implementation committee should not be made up of the comp plan committee [members] because they have agenda. That we come in without an agenda, with an open mind,” he said.

Casco Town Manager Tony Ward explained that getting educated will be the first order of business before choosing citizens for implantation committee.

“The first phase is education to the board and myself on what roles of the Implementation Committee should be. Then, start interviews,” he said. “It is multi-faceted step. We don’t want to wait 6 months for the next one [step] to go down, the last one [comp plan] sat on a shelf for 13 years.”