By Dawn De Busk

Staff Writer

NAPLES — Naples has selected a firm to facilitate the process of updating its comprehensive plan.

Two weeks ago, the Naples Board of Selectmen voted to award the comp plan bid to BerryDunn for $93,760.

Select board member Colin Brackett suggested going with the firm after doing some research. The vote was, 3-1-1, with Chairman Ted Shane abstaining and Kevin Rogers opposing.

In the course of two budget cycles, the town set aside $95,000 to renew the comp plan, a process that is anticipated to take about a year and a half.

There were three bidding companies, which did presentations before the board back in August. Those firms vying for the contract were: Greater Portland Council of Governments (GPCOG) at $85,000, North Star Planning with a price of $100,000 and BerryDunn coming in at $93,760.

On Sept. 9, Select Board member Kevin Rogers stated there was a better way to apply the money instead of going through the process that could take up to two years and the energy of community members.

“We are signing up for a comprehensive plan revision. That is going to take us up to two years. This money could be used to deal with the issues that the Town of Naples,” he said.

“We are barking up the wrong tree with appropriating this money. I don’t know why we are spending $95,000 when we know what we need to do in this town. We know what we need to deal with. We know we need to redo the zoning in this town. We know that we are supposed to be preserving the character of this town, We are supposed to be preserving the natural resources,” Rogers said. “We have an issue with parking. We have got an issue with bathrooms. We have more topics to deal with right now than we can generate the energy to deal with. So, we are going to spend $95,000 to find more thing we need to deal with.”

He suggested using the money, which was approved at previous town meetings, to fix some of the most pressing issues.

“Really, we should be reappropriating the $95,000 to address problems we already have. [We could] spend a money on a firm to help with zoning. [We could] take that money and put it towards the parking. We could put money toward Lakes Environmental Agency (LEA.) We could create a scholarship of sorts for people around the lakes if they have stormwater issues or have runoff issues, where there is problem with our lakes and streams. We could give them money to do the repairs,” he said. 

“The $95,000 could be divvied up to address the problems we know we have right now,” Rogers said.

He suggested creating a warrant article to re-appropriate the $95,000 to address the issues that the current comp plan outlines. He suggested putting off the process of updating the comp plan for another two years.

Nobody took him up on the idea.

Select Board member Stephen LaPointe said the comp plan update has been postponed long enough.

“We kicked the can down the road in 2015 when this needed to be done. Now you want to kick the can down the road again. The fact is it is mandated by the state. We should have done it in 2015, but we didn’t. Let’s go get it done,” he said. “It is a State Ordinance that comp plan be updated every 10 years. Most of our ordinances should be rewritten from that comp plan.”

Resident Martina Witts spoke, saying she was disappointed in Rogers’ take on the issue. She didn’t understand how a firm could help with rezoning without a revised comp plan in place first.

She questioned Roger’s reference to ‘they,’ the firm hired to help facilitate comp plan process.

“It is not ‘they’ telling us what to do. It is not they. It is us. The citizens are going to be involved in the comp plan,” she said. “I want all the people in town to tell me what they want. The people of Naples voted to use this money for the comp plan.”

Chairman Shane mentioned that a new town planner has been hired, and perhaps that person could shed light on whether or not there is need to re-do comp plan.

Casco Planner Kathy Tombarelli, who is town staff and not contracted out, spoke. She mentioned that the residents typically express for the revised plan many of the same ideas that were in existing plan.

“You will find there won’t be a lot of change in what the vision of the citizens of Naples is,” she said.

However, the climate has changed on the state level.

“The State Growth Management act has changed, the definitions for zoning are all new definitions, we need to comply with those definitions. Not doing the comp plan or doing zoning first without doing the comp plan and not lining up with state growth management act and their new terminology” is not a wise idea, she said.

She added that 2006 is long time to go without updating the comp plan. Also, hiring a firm to help with the comp plan process is bringing in someone who is familiar with changes on state level, she said.

“If you do ordinances first you are putting cart before horse,” she said. “I need to hear what the citizen of Naples want.”