Perry board tackles hearing format Chairman: LNG opponents not entitled to equal time at tonight’s meeting

PERRY – Opponents of a proposed $3.6 million deal between the town and an Oklahoma LNG developer say their voices will not be heard at a public hearing tonight.

The hearing is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Perry Elementary School.

The squabble over who gets to speak is one more in a series that has pitted pro-LNG residents against opponents.

Quoddy Bay LNG hopes to build a multimillion-dollar liquefied natural gas terminal at Pleasant Point with a tank farm in neighboring Perry. The project has split the town and for a time now there has been wrangling among members of the Perry Board of Selectmen.

At the town meeting on Monday, March 26, voters will be asked to approve a $3.6 million annual payment by Quoddy Bay LNG to the town of Perry over the next 25 years. Chairman David Turner spearheaded those negotiations. The law requires that a public hearing be held before the vote.

At a meeting of the selectmen Monday, Turner and Selectwoman Jeanne Guisinger disagreed about how the public hearing should be conducted.

The format as set forth by Turner calls for the town’s attorney to explain the agreement and then Turner, as moderator, would open the floor for questions.

But Guisinger said she believed it would be in everyone’s best interest if those people opposed to the agreement had an opportunity to present its shortcomings.

“You have laid out some rules for the hearing process which I object to,” Guisinger said to Turner. “My question is why won’t you allow presenters who are opposed to the project?”

Turner said the meeting format has been used before and there was nothing wrong with it. He said the Maine Municipal Association said it was a proper meeting format. Those opposed to the project would be allowed to ask questions, the chairman said.

When Guisinger made a motion to open the hearing for a presentation by both sides, the motion died for lack of a second.

Perry resident John Cook said he had information he would like to share with the public. “I have a PowerPoint presentation on the shortcomings of this deal that I would like to make available to the public at this hearing,” he said. He requested the same amount of time allotted as the town’s attorney.

When Cook pressed his point and interrupted Turner, Turner said he would have him removed from the meeting. “I am telling you, John, to quit interrupting this meeting or I will do it,” he said.

Cook was quiet after that.

Perry resident Georgie Kendell said she would like to hear from both sides so she could make an informed decision. “I think that would be my right as a citizen of this town,” she said. “As the selectmen I ask you to allow that to happen.”

The chairman said that there would not be enough time to allow 70 people to have 40 minutes to speak. “We will see how much time we have,” he said. “That’s the way we’ve conducted our hearings and that’s the way Maine Municipal [Association] says is proper … and that’s the way it’s going to be conducted,” Turner said.