Searsport says yes to moratorium Straw poll shows 10-1 ratio opposing LNG terminal

SEARSPORT – Residents attending a special town meeting Saturday left little doubt about their opposition to a liquefied natural gas terminal.

In a nonbinding straw poll, the 150 residents attending the meeting voted against a LNG terminal anywhere in town by a 10-1 ratio.

By the same ratio, residents adopted a six-month moratorium on industrial development in town.

The moratorium, which selectmen can renew for an additional six months, was spurred by opposition to the news that a consultant had inquired about using state-owned Sears Island to site a LNG terminal. No formal proposal for the island has materialized, and Gov. John Baldacci has pledged not to support a terminal over the objections of the town.

In another move to protect Sears Island, residents agreed to join the Midcoast Pine Tree Zone – a state economic development initiative offering state tax breaks to eligible businesses – but they removed the island from a list of eligible properties.

Lengthy debates preceded each vote, with a core group of about 15 supporters keeping the town’s options open for industrial development. The debate seemed to hinge on two opposing views of the town’s future: maintaining its historic ties to seafaring-based commerce and industry or moving toward a tourism-based economy capitalizing on the scenic assets of Penobscot Bay.

Zaven Koltookian, co-owner of Searsport Shores Camping Resort, said when he arrived in town 10 years ago, the downtown area was in poor shape with many storefronts closed, an old gas station fronting on Main Street and bed-and-breakfast inns struggling to stay in business.

Today, he said, the Penobscot Marine Museum is going strong, a new park exists where the gas station was and new businesses have opened shop.

But Arthur Koch, a longtime resident, asked Koltookian how many of the new businesses offered there employees paid vacations, health benefits and paid holidays. Koch said Searsport’s industries, like Sprague, which imports fuel at the Mack Point pier, and GAC Chemical, which manufactures chemicals for paper mills, offer better compensation than seasonal, tourist-based businesses.

A representative of Sprague said the company employs 28 full-time workers, and including those involved in trucking, another 80. A representative of GAC said that company employs 55.

The vote on including Searsport in the Midcoast Pine Tree Zone was the closest of the development-related questions at 83-65.

Before the vote, residents voted by approximately 2-1 ratios to include Mack Point, Sprague and GAC in the list of properties eligible for the Pine Tree tax breaks. By a 3-1 ratio, however, they voted to remove Sears Island from the list.

Residents had a lot of questions about the program, which offers breaks on income tax and sales tax for construction supplies to new or existing business that expand. Select properties in Waldoboro, Thomaston, Rockland, Camden, Searsmont and Belfast have been selected for the midcoast zone. Manufacturing and industrial businesses are targeted for the tax breaks and are eligible only if they can show they would not locate in an area or expand without the incentives.

David Colter of GAC advocated for including the company’s 152 waterfront acres in the zone. In the fall, the company had to lay off 10 percent of its work force, he said, and GAC now wants to market its property to another industrial user.

Several residents said they were suspicious about the lack of clear information about the program, and some said they feared the town would lose the ability to regulate new or expanding businesses even though town attorney Peter Mason assured them local control would not be diminished.

The lack of local land-use regulations was a concern for some who said they supported the Pine Tree program, but worried about inviting new industrial and manufacturing business to town without adequate oversight.