CAMDEN — Camden's Select Board tended to a slew of business at its Dec. 18 meeting, including the acceptance, with regret, of longtime volunteer Sidney Lindsley's resignation from the Planning Board. The board also held a moment of silence for the community of Newtown, Conn.; approved placement of another group business sign, this one on Mechanic Street near a tree that some referred to that night as the “Roger Moody Tree”; and entered executive session to talk about a proposed land use violation settlement.

Camden Select Board Chairman Martin Cates offered holiday greetings to the Town of Camden at board's Dec. 18 meeting, including a round of best wishes to his fellow board members.

“We look forward to a new year, and we thank the town staff, the often unsung heros,” he said. “They do a heck of a good job.”

He also thanked the committee volunteers, praising their input and guidance.

“Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all,” he said.

Several liquor licenses were likewise approved, including one for a new Elm Street restaurant, Comida, which will occupy the former Mediterranean Cafe, next door to Zoot. Comida is owned by Pura Vida, Inc., of Rockland. The managers of the new restaurant are Tom Sigler and Lisa Laurita-Spanglet, both of Rockland.

 The Mechanic Street directional sign is to point the public to shops and services in the Knox Mill, and those further along Mechanic Street and Washington Street. The sign is to be placed between the fire hydrant and the tree at the Mechanic Street parking lot. The back of the sign is to say Downtown Business District and Harbor Business District, with a curved arrow. The sign resembles another sign that was erected this past summer near the Camden Public Landing directing traffic to businesses in that part of town.

 The signs have been created and donated to the town by the Camden Downtown Business Group. The new sign measures vertically 36 inches by 67.5 inches, and include 14 slots each for local businesses.

 Select Board members accepted the sign donation at a vote of 4 to 1. Upon learning the location of the Mechanic Street sign, board member John French said, “I think that's Roger Moody's tree.”

Board member Don White said, “We're not taking Roger's tree down.”

The sign is to be installed imminently.

Board member Leonard Lookner voted against the sign installation.

“I know this is perhaps trivial,” he said. “I think these types of signs are hideous and do not reflect the quality of type of community we live in. I don't understand vinyl signs that look like they are out of Disney World.”

The Select Board also approved:

• 10 commercial fishermen dock permit applications for the coming year. The boats and their captains are: Whistler, Arthur Andrews, Camden; Samantha Kate, Barney Appleton, Lincolnville; Late Nite, David Emery, Camden; Janice Ruth, Robert Ogier, Camden; Margella, Adam Scott, Hope; Uni, Brad Scott, Lincolnville; Canned Heat, Gary Talbot, Camden; Lost Claws, Amy Thompson, Rockport; Tin Can/Equalizer, Art Tibbetts, Camden; and Gladys Winck, Toby Wincklhofer, Lincolnville.

• Five daysailer permit applications for 2012. The boats and their captains are: schooner Olad, Aaron Lincoln, Camden; schooner Surprise, Jack and Barbara Moore, Camden; gaff rigged schooner Lazy Jack II, Sean O'Connor, Camden; motor vessel Lively Lady and power vessel Betselma, Garth Wells and Alex Brainerd, Camden.

Brainerd, owner of Artisan Boatworks in Rockport, attended the meeting and told the board he and his wife purchased the Betselma and Lively Lady and are “excited to carry on the tradition, and look forward to being part of the community on the harbor.”

The Camden Select accepted, with regret, the resignation of Syd Lindsley, who has served on many boards and committees, including the Select Board.

“Syd has a real passion for this community, reflected in all the jobs he took,” said board member Leonard Lookner. “I absolutely admire Syd's dedication to this community.”

The board agreed to invite Syd to a future meeting to properly acknowledge his contributions.

Board member Lookner suggested the town's Harbor Committee explore the possibility of adding a fishermen's hoist at the harbor. Rockport and Belfast each have one, he said, adding that Camden talked about purchasing one five or six years ago. The board agreed to have the Harbor Committee address the possibility.

• Voted to adopt the Knox County Hazardous Mitigation Plan. Read more about it here: "Getting paperwork in now to ensure mitigation funding. It can happen here: Knox County plans for disaster.

• Approved several liquor licenses, including Comida, as mentioned above. The other licenses are for Francine Bistro, owned by Brian Hill, doing business as Linz LLC; and the Waterfront Restaurant, owned by Samuel Appleton, doing business as Northwinds, Inc.

•Agreed to the creation of a working group of the Comprehensive Plan Committee to write the plan's new chapter on the Midcoast Solid Waste Facility. The chapter of the revised plan will address the future of the facility and assessment of its current condition. The facility, and transfer station, is owned by Camden, Hope, Lincolnville and Rockport. The old limestone quarries are being filled, or have been filled, with demolition debris and other material over the decades. Household trash is trucked to the trash-to-energy PERC incinerator in Orrington, an arrangement that has been in effect since the mid-1980s.

The working group should, according to a memo to the Select Board from Lowrie Sargent, who sits on the comprehensive plan committee, “suggest alternatives to the current facility and the costs related to those alternatives should it be found that the facility will run out of capacity by 2025.”

The memo also said: “To consider the planning implications for this facility, it will be necessary to review the capacity consumption rate (i.e., fill rate of the quarries), the irregularity of the recycling secondary market and changing environmental laws and standards. Recently, some products expected to be recycled have instead been placed into the landfill because the prices for recycled materials had fallen. The results of these studies will need to be shared with the other partner municipalities so that a coordinated effort is availabel to continue this vital service to Camden.”

Camden is inviting interesting citizens to join the working group.

As Assessors

Convening for a short while as the Board of Assessors, the Select Board declined a request from Anita Brosius-Scott to reduce the assessed value of property at 18 Ames Terrace, which she is renovating. Brosius-Scott was asking for an abatement of $34,070 in valuation from $119,800 to $85,730, resulting in an abatement in taxes of $466 from $1,636 to $1,172.

But, according to Camden's Assessor's Agent Wesley Robinson: “Such a reduction in valuation would be inconsistent with how other properties are assessed in Camden and result in an inequity.”

He did recommend an abatement of $28,100 in valuation, however. That results in an abatement of taxes of $382.40. “This reduction would reflect the current state of building condition and be consistent with how other properties are assessed in Camden,” he said, in a memo to the board. The Select Board approved that recommendation.

The assessors also approved a $127 tax abatement for Margaret for Isakson, for a mix-up concerning Homestead Exemption designation.

Land Use Settlement

The Select Board reconvened and entered executive session for approximately one hour to talk with Town Attorney Bill Kelly about a proposed land use violation settlement with Camden property owner C. Edward Libby. No motions were made after that closed door meeting and Town Attorney Patricia Finnigan declined to talk further about the settlement.

Editorial Director Lynda Clancy can be reached at lyndaclancy@PenBayPilot.com; 706-6657.