We are all reeling from the upheaval caused by this pandemic and know that in-person public meetings such as Planning Boards are on hold. However, the emergency legislation passed by the Maine Legislature on March 17th and signed by Governor Mills allows municipalities to “conduct a public proceeding through telephonic, video, electronic or other similar means of remote participation.”
Link to New Law – See Section G
Based on our recent communication, City Planners in South Portland have already scheduled their first remote Planning Board meetings for early April.
Planning Departments in Westbrook, Windham and elsewhere are also actively setting up and testing online systems that will allow Planning Boards to conduct their important business remotely and with public participation. Agendas for local Planning Boards were already full before this pandemic, and it is important that we continue the public process of review and approval. Our engineering team is actively pushing projects forward so that permits can be in place when conditions allow for construction. And we have already seen forward movement on projects spurred on by the recent drop in interest rates.
We’re in this together, and as the situation evolves, we’ll continue to do everything we can to serve our community. The entire St.Germain team thanks you for your support!