Houlton fills two vacancies on planning board

HOULTON – After a period of seesawing membership, all seats on the municipal planning board are full, Code Enforcement Officer Wade Hanson said Monday.

But the town is still working to compile a list of those interested in public service should future vacancies arise.

After two years of struggling to recruit and retain members, town councilors last week solidified membership on the planning board by appointing two Houlton residents to serve on the panel.

After some debate, councilors voted to appoint Elizabeth Childers and Michael White to fill the two vacant seats.

Childers will serve through 2008, and White will retain his seat until 2009.

One seat on the planning board opened up when Chris Batby resigned in the spring, and town officials said that they advertised for someone to fill the position throughout the summer.

No one came forward to fill the seat by November and a second planning board seat opened up later that month.

The second vacancy on the planning board was set in motion after former Councilor Dale Flewelling resigned his seat on the council, forcing fellow councilors to seek applicants to replace him.

Sue Tortello, who was a member of the planning board at the time, was chosen to fill Flewelling’s council seat during the Nov. 27 meeting. She then resigned her seat on the planning board because only one councilor at a time can serve on the planning board, and Councilor Walter Goodrich was already on the board.

It was then that Childers and White stepped forward to fill the vacancies left by Tortello and Batby.

Childers and White were appointed to the positions at the Dec. 11 council meeting.

Councilor Carl Lord expressed hesitation about voting in favor of the appointments during the meeting, saying he felt that the town should have advertised to fill the seats in the weeks before the recent meeting.

“I am glad that we have two people stepping forward,” Lord said. “But if I didn’t know [about the vacancies], how many others would love to join but can’t because we’re going to fill them without advertising?”

Town Clerk Cathy O’Leary told Lord that the town advertised unsuccessfully for candidates for two months during the summer.

Councilor Gerald Adams said that he was glad that Childers and White had stepped forward to help out.

“It’s tough to get people to serve on these committees,” he acknowledged. “Its a voluntary job and it takes endless hours … I think the council should take action tonight and appoint these people.”

Tortello agreed, saying that the planning board had spent a significant amount of time on projects such as revising ordinances and drafting a wellhead protection ordinance for the town, and added that there were times when the group could not vote on matters because they didn’t have enough members to form a quorum.

“We’ve gone through a really bad patch in the past because we didn’t have a quorum,” she stressed. “I think it is important that we vote on this now.”

Councilors eventually voted 5-1 in favor of appointing Childers and White, with only Lord opposed. The councilor reiterated that he was only voting “no” because of his belief about the advertising.

Despite the fact that both the planning board and the zoning board of appeals are fully staffed, Hanson said Monday that the town is still interested in taking applications from people who would like to serve on municipal boards should future vacancies arise.