ROBBINSTON – There may be two liquefied natural gas developers hoping to build terminals Down East, but their approach to a citizens advisory panel is as different as their projects.

The move to include an advisory group came after Quoddy Bay and the Passamaquoddy Tribe had come under criticism for not including the public in the decision-making process, since the idea of an LNG terminal was first proposed a year ago.

The two proposed projects are similar: They want to bring LNG into Washington County from foreign ports. But they also are different: One will have a split project with one foot in Pleasant Point and the other in Robbinston, while the other developer plans to site his entire facility in Robbinston.

The Oklahoma-based Quoddy Bay LLC proposed the first project. They hope to build a pier and docking facility at Split Rock at Pleasant Point with a connecting eight-mile underwater pipeline to three storage tanks in Robbinston.

The second project, proposed by Downeast LNG of Washington, D.C., hopes to build a facility on 80 acres at Mill Cove that would include a pier and docking facility and at least one storage tank.

Both developers have said they would like advisory boards to help them develop their project, but even their advisory boards will be different. Downeast LNG left the creation of the board up to the Robbinston Board of Selectmen. Quoddy Bay LLC is handpicking its members.

The Robbinston selectmen held their first meeting Monday, and more than 50 people volunteered to serve. At the organizational meeting, the selectmen handed out a preliminary agenda.

Among the suggested topics were the cost to the town and immediate property owners, impact on the local school, fire department and law enforcement, zoning issues, and labor agreements.

Robbinston resident Carol Hollingdale said this week that she would like to serve on the advisory board. She said there was a good cross section of people who were interested in serving, including those for and against the project.

Jane Eaton of Robbinston suggested the town create subcommittees that would investigate each topic and report back to the group as a whole. Eaton said she believed there were people in the town interested in working with Quoddy Bay LLC, now that they’ve announced plans to site three tanks in their community.

As for the Quoddy Bay group’s citizens advisory panel, Project Manager Brian Smith indicated earlier in the week that the company’s call for volunteers a month ago has resulted in some response, but the group has not yet formed.

Back in June, the Oklahoma developer announced that the company was seeking volunteers to sit on a panel to advise Quoddy Bay on the development and construction of the LNG facility at Pleasant Point.

That panel’s focus now has been expanded to include the proposed LNG storage-tanks facility in Robbinston, Smith told an audience sitting in on his initial presentation to the Robbinston planning board on Thursday.

On Friday, the public relations firm Savvy Inc. representing Quoddy Bay declined to take follow-up questions over the phone from the BDN.

But in a written response to an e-mail query, Savvy said the company was pleased with the response to the advisory board.

“I don’t know exact numbers, but we have had a lot of interest,” Emily Francis said.

She said they would be announcing the membership shortly. The group would consist of about 15 members. They expect their first meeting to take place in August. She was uncertain if the meetings would be open to the public. “We hope to have the meetings open to the public, but that will be up to the advisory board members to decide,” she said.

Smith had said earlier this week in a conference call with reporters, as he announced the LNG storage project for Robbinston, that Quoddy Bay remained open to meeting with Robbinston residents, including opponents to any LNG development.

“I would certainly be open to meeting with Save Passamaquoddy Bay, or anybody, for that matter,” Smith said of the organized group that is opposed to both projects. “We have asked publicly for people to join a citizens advisory panel. We were hoping that even members of Save Passamaquoddy Bay would come and join us, to make this project something that everybody can be proud of.”

In its June call for the advisory group, Quoddy Bay indicated the panel “will be made up of interested community leaders from Pleasant Point, Eastport, Perry and other surrounding communities.”

Quoddy Bay asked for councilmen, city managers, selectmen, planning board members and other community leaders to step forward and be a part of the panel.

Quoddy Bay had hoped to establish the panel in July, and had asked volunteers to respond by July 5. The advisory panel would meet at least once a month, in Pleasant Point, Eastport or Perry.

Those who have not yet responded, yet remain interested, can still contact Smith. His e-mail address is brian@quoddylng.com. Notes of interest should include information about the individual’s occupation, possible public service, interest in the project, and any initial concerns.