March 9th, 2009
Sedgwick residents decline tower moratorium
By Diana Graettinger
BDN Staff
SEDGWICK, Maine — Residents voted at their annual town meeting Saturday
to turn down a moratorium on telecommunications towers, antennas and wind
turbines in excess of 50 feet.
The Board of Selectmen sought the change to give the town time to examine
possible amendments to zoning and land-use ordinances to address placement
and construction of such structures.
More than 60 registered voters attended the meeting out of nearly 900
residents. The meeting began at 9 a.m. at the Sedgwick Town House.
Gordon Gianninoto was among those who spoke Saturday.
The Sedgwick resident said he supported having a telecommunication tower
near his residence on Caterpillar Hill because of the need for better equipment
to address the places in Hancock County where no signal is available.
Town officials have been discussing the possibility of a moratorium on towers
for several years now.
“We had a cell phone tower go up on the Ridge Road a couple of years ago,”
Nelson Grindal said in a previous Bangor Daily News story. “And there have
been rumblings of the possibility of another one and some wind power
generators. The planning board and the code enforcement officer asked us to
do a moratorium to give us time to develop an ordinance to keep a control on
it.”
While the moratorium was turned down, voters approved the other items on the
town warrant including access and road issues
There were no contested races in municipal elections. The town election was
held on Friday. Selectman Tom O’Connor died in February but nonetheless
was elected to a three-year seat on the board.
Cynthia Reilly, town clerk and treasurer, said Sunday that after O’Connor died
it was too late to have the ballots redone.
“He died in such a short time before the election, we did not have time to recall
the ballots,” she said. “He got all of the votes that were cast, so therefore there
is a failure to elect and we will be going to a special election.”
She said it would be up to the selectmen to schedule another election in the
future.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS PHOTO BY JOHN CLARKE RUSS Gordon Gianninoto
addresses fellow Sedgwick residents gathered Saturday for the annual town
meeting held at Sedgwick Town House. Gianninoto stood up to voice his
support for a telecommunication tower near his residence on Caterpillar Hill,
citing the need for better equipment in order to address some of the places in
Hancock County where there is no signal available. Buy Photo
By Diana Graettinger
BDN Staff
SEDGWICK, Maine — Residents voted at their annual town meeting Saturday
to turn down a moratorium on telecommunications towers, antennas and wind
turbines in excess of 50 feet.
The Board of Selectmen sought the change to give the town time to examine
possible amendments to zoning and land-use ordinances to address placement
and construction of such structures.
More than 60 registered voters attended the meeting out of nearly 900
residents. The meeting began at 9 a.m. at the Sedgwick Town House.
Gordon Gianninoto was among those who spoke Saturday.
The Sedgwick resident said he supported having a telecommunication tower
near his residence on Caterpillar Hill because of the need for better equipment
to address the places in Hancock County where no signal is available.
Town officials have been discussing the possibility of a moratorium on towers
for several years now.
“We had a cell phone tower go up on the Ridge Road a couple of years ago,”
Nelson Grindal said in a previous Bangor Daily News story. “And there have
been rumblings of the possibility of another one and some wind power
generators. The planning board and the code enforcement officer asked us to
do a moratorium to give us time to develop an ordinance to keep a control on
it.”
While the moratorium was turned down, voters approved the other items on the
town warrant including access and road issues
There were no contested races in municipal elections. The town election was
held on Friday. Selectman Tom O’Connor died in February but nonetheless
was elected to a three-year seat on the board.
Cynthia Reilly, town clerk and treasurer, said Sunday that after O’Connor died
it was too late to have the ballots redone.
“He died in such a short time before the election, we did not have time to recall
the ballots,” she said. “He got all of the votes that were cast, so therefore there
is a failure to elect and we will be going to a special election.”
She said it would be up to the selectmen to schedule another election in the
future.
BANGOR DAILY NEWS PHOTO BY JOHN CLARKE RUSS Gordon Gianninoto
addresses fellow Sedgwick residents gathered Saturday for the annual town
meeting held at Sedgwick Town House. Gianninoto stood up to voice his
support for a telecommunication tower near his residence on Caterpillar Hill,
citing the need for better equipment in order to address some of the places in
Hancock County where there is no signal available. Buy Photo
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