My family has seen reports come and go regarding the economic development of Washington County. My father spent much of his adult life working first with the Roosevelt administration, and then with Sen. Margaret Chase Smith, to achieve the great economic development project for Down East Maine of his generation – a tidal power project for the Bay of Fundy. The effort failed.

Others have failed since. Now into the fray has entered David Flanagan, emissary of Gov. Baldacci. His report came out in November. It can be viewed online at http://www.maine.gov/governor/baldacci/issues/washingtoncounty/WCReport.doc.

How will he do?

I must begin with a compliment. Flanagan’s recommendations are bold. They are based on sound analysis. If carried out, they will transform Washington County.

Now let’s move on to reality. Your editorial of Nov. 19 asked the right question. Why haven’t past studies been successful, and what will make this study any different?

The reasons for past failure are not complicated. Flanagan discusses them in his report. Two in particular bear repeating. First, public investment has been insufficient. Second, no one in the state government had responsibility to follow through on the recommendations. Both of these problems can be avoided this time. The answers lie within the Flanagan report itself. Let me explain.

First, considering resources, how can we fund this effort at a time when state and federal budgets are so tight?

The answer is simple. Begin with the recommendations in the Flanagan report that generate money. Then use that money to implement the rest of the report.

For example, Flanagan recommends that a toll be imposed on the new bridge between St. Stephen and Calais (page 18). Such a toll could generate revenues in the range of $3 million to $5 million a year. There are 34 toll bridges between the United States and Canada and Mexico, so there is precedent for such action. The toll revenue could be used to help generate economic development in the region. Again, there is precedent for this. The Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission is charged by law to use its revenues for economic development as well as bridge maintenance. The same could be done here.

The toll, set at the proper level, would encourage trucks to take the new bridge, and cars to stay downtown in Calais, remaining customers of the stores and new Downeast Heritage Museum. I commend Flanagan for showing the courage and foresight to include this recommendation in the report. A revenue stream of $3 million to $5 million a year would go a long way towards implementing all of the recommendations in the Flanagan report.

But if these funds aren’t enough, the report provides a clue about another potential ongoing revenue source. The report calls for a “working group” to study the potential of a liquefied natural gas plant along the coast. Among its responsibilities, the group should decide upon “the terms and conditions appropriate for the use of any state submerged lands required by a project” (page 29). I can help the working group out in this matter.

Here’s the answer. If an LNG plant is sited along Washington County’s coast, the state should charge a hefty fee for any pipes or facilities sitting on top of state submerged lands (which are impossible to miss), and use the revenue to support the economic development recommendations of this report.

Here’s another recommendation with money implications, and one which is particularly close to my heart and the feelings of my family. The University of Maine now operates a center in Calais that allows working mothers and other place-bound residents to gain college degrees. Flanagan recommends that the University continue this program, and collaborate with the University of New Brunswick to expand the center to serve students from Charlotte County (page 58).

The center makes money for the university today, and the new arrangement could make it an even bigger revenue generator for the state, even as it educates more people to enter the workforce. By the way, there’s a reason why this center is close to my heart. It’s called the Unobskey School, and it’s located on the very spot that my parents and grandparents opened their first store after crossing half the world to arrive in America.

Finally, there is one recommendation that is not a money generator by itself, but which will do much to make Washington County a prominent destination for tourists. That is to create a Franklin Roosevelt Trail on both sides of the St. Croix River, extending from Calais to Eastport on the U.S. side, and ending with a ferry boat connection to Campobello, Roosevelt’s summer home. The trail would be interspersed with sculptures of FDR by Robert Graham, the artist responsible for the highly acclaimed FDR Memorial in Washington, D.C.

There are dozens more great recommendations in the report. I will only mention one more. That is Flanagan’s idea to create a “Deputy Commissioner for Washington County” in the Department of Economic Development. This addresses the second problem mentioned above, that of establishing responsibility for implementing the report. Here, and only here, Flanagan has been too timid. This job is too big for a second-in-command in a small state department.

This person has to be able to cut through the bureaucracies in Transportation, Environmental Protection, Conservation, the University, the Community College system. Such a person can only be in the governor’s office. Only the governor can implement this program, and only if he has someone at his side riding herd. Anything less, and you can put this report on the shelf next to the others that went before.

So, Gov. Baldacci, here’s your opportunity to make history. You can succeed where Franklin Roosevelt failed. You can revitalize Washington County. Sending Flanagan was the first step. Now carry the program out!

Sidney Unobskey is a native of Calais who now lives in San Francisco, with a summer home in Robbinston.