Planning board appoints liaisons after resilience-plan briefing on sea-level and economy risks

Eva Burke, chair of South Thomaston's resilience committee, told the planning board the committee is “about two-thirds of the way through the planning process” and asked for planning-board participation to make the plan actionable.

Why it matters: The committee's vulnerability work — economic, infrastructure, public-health and social assessments — frames choices about shoreline setbacks, culverts, working waterfronts and housing. The Mid Coast Council of Governments's economic assessment cited by the committee found that roughly 80% of the local economy is tied to fishing and marine industries, a point presenters said underlines the economic stakes of sea-level and storm risks.

What the board heard: Michael Elliott, a resilience committee member and longtime planner, described physical exposure in town, saying “40% of the parcels in this town are affected by as little as 3.9 foot elevation,” and urged early coordination between the committee and planning board on land-use questions. Eva Burke outlined the committee's work so far — greenhouse-gas inventory, infrastructure mapping with Knox County GIS and the Island Institute, a public-health vulnerability review, and a social-vulnerability assessment — and asked for one or two planning-board members to meet with the committee to help prioritize feasible actions and prepare funding applications.

Board response and action: Board members expressed general willingness to help but emphasized that policy changes must flow through the select board and the ordinance-review committee when necessary. At the meeting the board nominated Gabe and Catherine as initial liaisons and voted 5-0 to authorize planning-board liaisons to work with the resilience committee. The motion passed unanimously.

Next steps: The resilience committee and the planning-board liaisons will schedule follow-up meetings to review the committee's mapping tools and proposed action items and to identify specific, implementable measures staff and boards can pursue when the plan is finalized.