Maine Islands Coalition Minutes November 16, 2007

In Attendance:
Roger Berle Cliff
Dexter Lee Swans
Marjorie Phyfe Peaks
Michael Langella Peaks (Island Council Chair)
Alden Finney Great Diamond
Betsy Weber Great Diamond
David Jermann North Haven
Kathy Fiveash Isle au Haut
Eva Murray Matinicus
Pat McEachron Frenchboro
Malcolm Donald Cranberry Isles
Mark Greene Long Island
Marjorie Stratton Vinalhaven
Maggie Drummond Grow Smart
Ted Koffman Representative
Chris Rector Representative
Leila Percy Representative
Ethan Strimling Senator
Dennis Damon Senator
Rob Benson Maine Seacoast Mission
Bill McGuinness Island Institute
Chris Wolff Island Institute
Jen Litteral Island Institute
Rob Snyder Island Institute
Brooke Brewer Island Institute

The following people regret that they could not attend; Rep. John Piotti, Rep. Hannah Pingree and Donna Damon, MIC Rep. from Chebeague Island

I. Legislator Introductions

A. Rep. Chris Rector
1. Co-chair of ME Future Prosperity Committee.
2. Also involved in the creation of a Mid-Coast School of Technology.
• The Midcoast is the least geographically well-served by post-secondary school options in Maine, and Knox County has the lowest post-secondary attendance of any other county. Post-secondary education is an essential element of economic development.
• Helping bring a community college presence to Midcoast Maine with a degree through the Univ. of Maine.
• Won a grant through North Star for Work Force Development and the first two classes were completely filled.
• Working on an educational bill to open possibilities for more funding, and to bring more access for low income adults to higher education.

B. Rep. Ted Koffman
1. Works with Island Housing Trust for affordable housing.
2. Sponsored a bill, LD262 for a credit to restore, reuse, rehab historic buildings.
• This is presently a taxation bill looking for a funding home. This credit could have a significant influence on small communities.
• Currently building a coalition to help push it through.
3. Working to sustain our watersheds at risk, and maintain drinking water supplies at affordable rates.
4. Concerned about climate change.
• Supports the bill to enact a statewide cap and trade program that could help influence national action.
5. Interested in enhancing and supporting our fisheries for their natural resource and tourist potential.
C. Sen. Ethan Strimling – Chair of the Labor Committee and involved in Taxation. Attended the meeting as an education on how to better serve his island constituents.

D. Sen. Dennis Damon
1. Joint Standing Committees on Transportation and Marine Resources.
2. Joint Select Committee Chair on State Police Funding, Maine Future Prosperity.

E. Rep. Leila Percy – No current bills related to islands, but a long-term interest in the preservation of rural communities, access to rural resources. Geographically isolated communities all over the state need to be continually reached out to. Dream of all inland resources and island resource coming together for a meeting.

II. Updates
A. Maine Future Prosperity-Dennis Damon
-A committee was formed to look at Maine's economic future and what it would be based upon, i.e. our natural resources, small businesses, knowledge or place?
-The outcome from this committee will be a comprehensive “omnibus” bill that will include some pieces of legislation already before committees.
-The islands are a good bellwether of the issues for future prosperity, and may be a help defining those issues. However, geographically isolated communities all over the state have similar issues.
-Governor is proposing that departments of fisheries and agriculture consolidate into one giant “Department of all living things?” potentially upsetting to coastal and rural populations all over the state, which is one more reason to work together. MIC has an opportunity to be a stronger voice in Augusta by joining forces with timber and farming communities that share similar issues.
Action Items: The suggestion was made to have the February MIC meeting in Augusta. It could be a great opportunity to pull together some rural legislators and could be a great opportunity to raise awareness. Everyone supported this idea and Rob Snyder agreed to work on this with Leila's help determining who should be invited.

B. Grow Smart Maine-Maggie Drummond
• The Brookings report gave an action plan, and made some major recommendations. Grow Smart Maine is now in its first year of implementing many of those suggestions. (i.e. Streamline government to support saving taxes, allocate resources to manage growth and support diverse economic clusters, protect quality places.)
• Proposed increasing hotel and tourism tax, but the bill was defeated pretty handily by tourism industry. Continuing to talk to the tourism industry to move forward, as has governor’s quality of places committee.
• Grow Smart helped push for a 10 year quality places bond to invest in land, special places and access. It would also provide some advertisement dollars.
• Grow Smart helped put the idea of quality places on the state agenda. Governor proposed a council on quality places, which will be releasing its recommendations within a month.
• Working on getting the historic rehab tax credit passed, and supporting downtown revitalization.
• Involved in Coalition building to make legislative pushes stronger. The Land preservation community is well organized, but downtown and economic development groups are not as well organized and are not talking to each other.
Action Item: Smart Growth would like to include MIC in the Coalition.

C. Affordable Coast Policy Retreat Oct 4-5, 2007-Bill McGuinness
The Island Institute is looking into developing a broad approach that will lead to meaningful results, specifically in developing a strategy for the long legislative session in 2009. Involving state leadership, various NGOs, island representatives and Island Institute staff, the policy retreat was a conversation about affordability, combining working waterfront and workforce housing issues into a broader vision of developing an affordable coast. Looking at the question of how do we develop real strength and real affordability?

D. Leadership of Coalition-Rob Snyder
Multiple coalitions under the Island Institute are connecting to form a larger louder coalition working towards an affordable coast, looking at it at the landscape level. To do this we need strong support, i.e. CEI, Camden National, etc. We're putting together data to form a road map for the scope of capital and building strategic relationships to have a stronger argument for congress.

E. The Coalition for Coastal Workforce Housing and Affordable Housing-Chris Wolff
1. General Obligation Bond. There is a broad base of partnership already, i.e. CEI, Maine Housing, Genesis, MISCA, but looking to expand this to state instead of just islands and the coast. Looking at partnering with Maine Rental Affordable Housing Coalition (MARHC) because they already have a broad base, and some overlapping issues. Also trying to get the business community behind it and perhaps investigating
a matching fund component.
2. Transfer tax tends to get raided by general fund. Working on an education campaign for legislators to try to keep money intact for affordable housing.
3. Cooperation between Land Conservation and Affordable Housing Trusts requires educating local land trusts and facilitating the pairing with affordable housing communities. Looking at the possibility of presenting at the Maine Land Conservation conference.
4. Local Option Transfer Tax not a priority for next session.
5. Estate Tax Credit – Good idea tricky to get through
6. Other models to look into:
• The Marianne Hayes Maine rural partners. Families can leave a portion of their estate to their community in some sort of trust. This is a model that has been used in farming communities, could work on islands as well.
• Reverse mortgages where non-profits hold onto properties.
Action Items: Islands in Casco Bay are looking to put together another Casco bay specific Affordable Housing conference (all islands would be invited), hopefully leading to a larger Island Institute sponsored conference next fall. The resource manual should also be updated.

F. Working Waterfront Coalition-Jen Litteral
1. Current Use Taxation was implemented and then the Coalition did outreach. Wanted to make sure that this program works for people.
• Currently 80 people are in the program.
• Maine revenue service has to submit letter about how program is working, and the Working Waterfront Coalition will be working with MRS to put together executive summary.
• In addition, planning to make recommendations:
    o Get rid of penalty to get out of the program
    o Land under structures or structures themselves currently can't be included. Recommendation to change this.
2. Working Waterfront Access Pilot Program- The first 2 million was just spent. Six projects were funded in total, which secured 400 jobs, and 7 acres, boats, etc. However, there were 175 inquiries. If all of them were funded it would have cost 25 million! Program was extended for one more year with a 3 million bond just was passed.
• Addressing problems with the program right now.
    o Need a permanent funding solution.
    o Currently, looking for additional bond funding.
    o The programs take a long time to work with applicants but key properties turn quickly and need money immediately.
    o Currently, looking at forming a private pool of money from donations or state money to be able to keep properties from being sold.
    o A large amount of money is needed to get into the program ($5-$15,000).
    o The Affordable Coast Fund was able to help with some of that.
3. Fishing for the Future- Business plans are crucial to successful businesses. Small grants would be made to pay for someone to sit down with small fishermen to help them be able to plan for the future. This overlaps with the Working Waterfront Access Pilot Program, which requires a business plan to access the program.
4. Lobstering licenses – working to keep them on islands vs. returning to zone pool.
5. Reports, outreach and education
• Fisherman's forum
• A “Toolbox Outreach Tool” was created to give to communities to help them navigate working waterfront issues.
6. Goals for the short session in 2008:
• Definition for working waterfront that expands to other marine dependent uses. Would not include current programs but would encompass more of our marine dependent uses for programs down the line.
• Current use taxation.
• Emergency bill on clam flats that would help shorten the time lag between when a clam flat is opened back up until the time people can go and harvest.
• A bill was introduced to further protect the clam flats so when a property changes hands, faulty septic systems must be fixed.

G. Alternative Energy/Wind Power-Bill McGuinness
History: Fox Islands Coop and Swans Island Coop (w/ Frenchboro) small locally owned energy coops, both pursuing wind power. Institute contracted Sue Jones (Community Energy Partners) to work as a consultant for these island coops. Bimonthly wind power
meetings are held on wind power development. Next one is on December 4th and any island is welcome to attend. Governor formed a wind-power task force charged with developing a report on how to make Maine a leader in wind power development. Enough people wanted
to talk about community scale wind power (Community wind = 10MW and down.) that they formed a subcommittee. November 29th is their third meeting.

Hannah Pingree has on the docket a big green power bill and is willing to incorporate policy changes coming out of subcommittee into this bill.
1. Subcommittee recommendations
• Creating education plan for small groups, communities, coops about what is already out there.
• Creating a model ordinance that the state could draft that is pro-wind and could be given to municipalities around the state. (Not determined as to what this would look like, but the idea is to be of assistance to municipalities. Helps folks be able to think about all of the things required to put these things together.)
2. Legislative Goals:
• MIC support for the green power bill of Hannah Pingree. Please get in touch with Bill and Hannah for more information about this bill.
• The current net-billing limit is set at 100kW, but the average house doesn't need nearly that capacity. A 5kW turbine would be more than sufficient to meet the needs of the average user. Further, it is currently not legal for individual homeowners to co-own a larger device (e.g. a 100kW turbine) and collectively take advantage of net-billing. As a result, though the law allows for up to 100kW, there is no incentive for individual homeowners to employ alternative energy devices larger than what they need. The problem is: the larger the machine, the
more efficient the economics and the power generation. The recommendation would be to change the rules to allow for collective net billing.
• An individual is allowed to take advantage of net-billing even if the alternative energy device is not in the same place as the meter, as long as it is within half a mile. That distance is somewhat arbitrary in that electrons are electrons. The recommendation would be to change the rules to remove or extend the distance limit on remote net-billing.
• MIC support of legislation that would allow the Downeast islands to be able to sell power.
3. Institute will host an island alternative energy conference in the spring or summer of 2008.

H. Report on Peaks Island Advisory Council- Mike Langella, Chair
Secession effort did not succeed, but as part of that process the State and Local Government Committee directed Portland to design a procedure for improving communication between city and island. Portland developed an ordinance for an elected council of seven Peaks
Island residents. After review, the Ordinance was approved by the State and Local Government Committee. It allows the council to write its own agenda, have its own authority to study anything. The council is currently developing structure and procedures to involve as many islanders as possible. At this point, the council is working positively with the city of Portland to try for the best arrangement possible for the residents of Peaks Island.

I. Final Thoughts
1. A shorter agenda was suggested for future meetings to allow more time for speakers and for questions.
2. John Piotti made a request for putting island farming on a future MIC agenda.
3. Mark Greene would like to explore town government in a future meeting.
4. The meeting in Augusta is an experiment. Perhaps it will be in addition to regular meetings. Right now it is scheduled for a Wednesday in February.