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Palermo Won't Let Shoreland Violator Off Hook

July 18, 2010 - PALERMO -- Selectmen declined Thursday to settle for two-thirds of the penalty they assessed a Norridgewock contractor.

Code Enforcement Officer Darryl McKenney said Larry Knowles sent a check for $5,000 and asked that it be accepted as full payment for violating land use ordinances.

Selectmen directed McKenney to write Knowles thanking him for the check and giving him until Aug. 31 to pay the remaining $2,500. The initial deadline for full payment was July 31.

Knowles, working for landowners Laure and Real Robidoux, cleared in protected wetlands and along the shore of Sheepscot Lake. Selectmen assessed a $7,500 penalty against each of the two parties.

The Robidouxes have paid in full, In addition, they have spent an estimated $100,000 on remedial work, including planting trees and shrubs to fill in cleared areas, town officials say.

McKenney said they need to add a few more trees to their replanting plan. They have applied for the after-the-fact state permits they need to clear their record at the state level, he said.

The other major discussion Thursday was with David Parkman, who reminded board members the town's contract for solid waste disposal expires in another two or three years.

He advised selectmen to begin considering whether they want to continue as members of the Tri-County Solid Waste Disposal group, using the Union transfer station; or to find another alternative.

Alternatives Parkman mentioned include sharing neighboring China's transfer station or building a transfer station on the 50-acre town-owned parcel on Turner Ridge Road.

He considers Tri-County the most cost-effective waste disposal method. The only drawback, he said, is the inconvenient distance for most Palermo residents.

In other business, Town Clerk Sheila McCarty said the Planning Board's rescheduled public hearing on James Pepin's proposed four-lot Plummer Road subdivision will be at 6:30 p.m. July 28 in the Town Office.

by staff writer, Kennebec Journal, July 17, 2010

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