WINSLOW — The Town Council plans to hold a public hearing on a proposed ordinance that would impose a moratorium on recreational marijuana establishments before its meeting at 7 p.m. Monday at the Town Office.
Councilors expect to take a final vote on the issue, which has prompted a number of Maine towns to do the same, after having voted in favor of the ordinance at the previous meeting.
The council also plans to vote on a proposed ordinance that would require businesses register with the town annually. Businesses now must buy a one-time use permit for $25.
Annual registration would help the town keep track of which businesses have closed and which have remained open, Town Manager Michael Heavener said. The town has wasted time assessing closed businesses in the past, he said, and this could solve that problem, as well as the problem of businesses that don’t pay their property taxes.
With such an ordinance in place, businesses still would be required to pay $25 initially, but it would be free to re-register every year afterward, Heavener said.
The council also plans to look at the Agricultural Commission’s recommendations for two farms that applied to the town’s Voluntary Municipal Farm Support Program. Winslow is the first town in the state to have a commission and program of this kind, Heavener said.
The support program is meant to provide tax relief to farmers so they can afford to keep their land and farms. The town and qualifying landowners would enter into a 20-year agreement under which landowners would receive part or all of their property taxes back in exchange for conserving their farmland during that time period.
The town assessor, Judy Mathiau, looked at a dozen properties in Winslow that would be eligible and found that even if all were accepted by the Town Council for the program, the tax rate increase would be 2 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value.
The commission recommended that both Wayne Hapworth’s and Steven Russell’s family-run farms be accepted into the program.
Heavener also is asking the council to transfer money from the library building capital account to the town garage capital account. In 2015, the town borrowed money for capital improvements and the library’s project was under budget by about $20,000, while the public works project was over budget by nearly the same amount.
The transfer would take the extra money the library didn’t need to cover what the town garage account owes, he said.
In other business, the councilors are scheduled to vote on whether to accept a $100 donation from Sappi and a $50 donation from the Winslow Federal Credit Union for the Parks and Recreation Department’s outdoor ice rink.
Madeline St. Amour — 861-9239
mstamour@centralmaine.com
Twitter: @madelinestamour
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