Perry voters reject LNG proposal $400M natural gas project divided Down East town

PERRY – A dozen people waited in the rain outside the municipal building to be the first to hear that residents voted 279-214 to reject the liquefied natural gas terminal proposed for Gleason Cove on Passamaquoddy Bay in next-door Pleasant Point.

The $400 million project proposed by the Passamaquoddy Tribe and Oklahoma developers was put before residents Monday in response to opponents who called for the vote in this corner of Washington County.

The voters responded to the question “Shall a liquefied natural gas terminal be rejected for development on the land annexed from the town of Perry by the Pleasant Point Reservation?”

Yes votes rejected the project. No votes supported it.

On Monday, red and black signs urging yes to reject the LNG project and green ones urging no to support it lined U.S. Route 1, which runs through the town.

LNG protesters stood in the rain wearing signs and facing traffic arriving at the municipal building from either direction.

The issue has divided the town. With a year-round population of 844 and about 650 of them registered voters, Perry has a post office, a farmers union store, a restaurant, a school and a municipal building, but no industry.

The tribe and the developer recently offered the town $1 million a year, enough to eliminate all property taxes for the next generation, to support the project.

An increase from an earlier $340,000 offer, the $1 million annual payment would begin with the start of construction and continue through the 30-year life of the plant, plus any extensions. The agreement could be renewed for up to 60 years.

Perry residents got the chance to vote on the issue because in March 1986 the Passamaquoddy gave them veto power over commercial development on 390 acres on Route 190 that the tribe had bought from the town. The 42 acres on Gleason Cove where the proposed LNG terminal would be built are within that 390-acre parcel.

Polls opened at 1 p.m. Monday and closed at 7 p.m. The three ballot clerks handled 97 voters within the first hour. The vote kept the clerks busier than any of them could remember from previous municipal elections.

“Usually we just sit and wait for voters,” Geraldine Kendall said.

“Usually we tell stories,” Rita Morrison said, “but there’s no time for that today.”

The turnout remained heavy throughout the day.

Before casting his vote, Dick Adams, one of Perry’s selectmen, said, “I’m glad it’s over.”

“The tribe did not approach us to hold this vote,” Adams said. “The opponents of LNG wanted this.”

Jeanne and Gary Guisinger, who have emerged as outspoken opponents of the project, both wore buttons proclaiming, “LNG can’t buy me.”

“It would be a devastating thing,” Gary Guisinger said. “There is no place in the community for heavy industry like this, with the ecosystem and the cove.

“We can be more creative. I guess this is Governor [John] Baldacci’s idea of the creative economy.”

Most residents remained tight-lipped after voting, not wanting to disclose their choices, but Sandra Smith welcomed the chance. She voted to reject the project.

“I don’t want to bring in [industrial] jobs that would take other people’s jobs away,” she said. “Too many people have fought for tourism in this area for too many years.”

Brian Smith, project manager and the son of Donald Smith, the developer behind the Quoddy Bay LLC group, expressed disappointment at the outcome.

“People in Perry told me they’d move away if the facility were built,” Smith said. “It is stories like that, rumors, lies and exaggerations that led them to vote against this project.”

Blaming opponents for the project’s defeat at the polls, Smith said, “The opponents designed the question to be confusing. A no vote meant yes, and a yes meant no. The opponents tried very hard to distract voters from the real issues.”

Tribal counsel Craig Francis said he was “devastated by the vote. I have never seen such an amazing opportunity for here. People lost a billion dollars that would have gone through the project.”

The leader of Save Passamaquoddy Bay, the opposition group that had organized meetings and educational sessions, said the Eastport-based group was “delighted” with the vote.

“We know there is lots more to do,” Linda Godfrey said Monday evening. “Our group will stick together and make even more wonderful things possible for the Passamaquoddy Bay area.”