6 Church Street, Gardiner, Maine 04345 Pat Hart, Chairperson
Dorothy Morang, Recording Secretary
{00030026-0000-0000-C000-000000000046} CITY OF GARDINER
PLANNING BOARD
Gardiner Planning Board January 13, 2009
City of Gardiner, Maine Regular Meeting 6:00 PM
ROLL CALL
Present: Pat Hart Judith A. Dorsey
Pamela Mitchel James Montell
Absent: Edward Lawrence Deborah Willis
Also Present: Dorothy Morang, Planning Board Recording Secretary
William Najpauer, Contracted Planner
Sarah Flaks, Contracted Planner
Bridget Condon Ronald Condon Eugene Thayer
Rebecca Thayer David Lovejoy Joan Lovejoy
Dan DeFarge Linda DeFarge Eugene Wendland
Justin Walton Daria Walton Mike Brescia
Erin Moulton
1.) Call the Meeting to order.
Chair, Pat Hart called the meeting to order at 6:01 PM and welcomed everyone.
2.) Roll call taken.
3.) December 9, 2008 Minutes.
Judy Dorsey noted that a sentence in the motion for Standard 20 on page 21 was repeated in the motion for Standard 21 and needed to be removed.
Pamela Mitchel made a motion that we accept the December 9, 2008 Meeting Minutes as amended. Judy Dorsey seconded the motion.
Vote: 4 in favor. 0 opposed. Motion passed.
Chair Hart went over the schedule for this meeting.
4.) Minor Site Plan Review Withdrawal
Nicholas J. Beaulieu, Applicant, who was seeking Minor Site Plan approval to construct a 15-lot Campground, has requested to withdrawn the Application. The property, located on Longwood Dr, is within the Residential Growth/Shoreland (RG/SL) Zoning Districts, City Tax Map 16 Lot 7.
Chair Hart noted that the Planning Board has received a letter from Nicholas Beaulieu stating that he is withdrawing his current application that was before the Planning Board to develop a campground.
Pam Mitchel made a motion that we accept Mr. Beaulieu’s withdrawal of his campground application. Judy Dorsey seconded the motion.
Vote: 4 in favor. 0 opposed. Motion passed.
5.) Pre-application Workshop
The Planning Board will hold a pre-application workshop to consider the location of a candle manufacturing and warehousing business to an existing building on River Ave. The Property, located at 650 River Ave, is within the Planned Development (PD) Zoning District, City Tax Map 41, Lot 58.
Chair Hart introduced the next item and noted that, although they were a potential applicant, there was no application before the Board at this time.
Eugene Wendland introduced himself and said that he managed the Village Candle factory in Topsham and is currently warehousing the finished product in the old Associated Grocers building in South Gardiner. He has an option to buy that building, but would want some assurance of his proposal being approved before making the purchase. The purchase would enable him to consolidate the business into one building by moving the manufacturing process here along with the storage and distribution. There are currently 10 employees at the warehouse and if they were to consolidate the process, it would bring in about 60 – 70 jobs.
Chair Hart noted that the Board could not give him that assurance at this meeting. They would have to have an application and go through the process to determine approval or not.
Chair Hart asked Mr. Wendland if there will be any changes to the footprint of the building. Mr. Wendland said no, but there would have to be renovations to the inside and some improvements to the façade as well as re-grading the parking lot. Mr. Wendland also noted that if the neighbors oppose the manufacturing because of the fragrance, he doesn’t want to relocate here.
Chair Hart said that there is nothing binding from the meeting tonight. This is just a conversation with Mr. Wendland and to give the neighbors a chance to speak. If Mr. Wendland submits an application, the Board members won’t be able to talk about the proposal with each other or to an abutter, if they happen to see them around town.
Judy Dorsey asked about parking. With 70 – 80 employees – would there be enough parking. Mr. Wendland introduced Mike Brescia who represents the building owner, Richard McGoldrick. He said that he believes there is enough parking.
Mr. Wendland said that he had talked with Jason Simcock and that Jason thought this proposal would be ok. Mr. Wendland said that Jason asked about the chemical content of the candles and whether they meet the standards. Mr. Wendland said that they buy the fragrances and he knows that they meet the California Ordinances that are strict, but doesn’t know about Maine.
Chair Hart noted that when you drive on the Interstate and go by their candle manufacturing plant in Topsham, you can smell the fragrances. She asked if it would smell like that in Gardiner. Mr. Wendland said yes, but he has had no complaints in Topsham, although the nearest house is a mile away.
Bill Najpauer asked Mr. Wendland to talk about the manufacturing process. Mr. Wendland said that they store the wax in liquid form at about 175° in silos with an area around it to catch it if a problem occurs. If they move the process to Gardiner, they are looking at storing it in bins that would fit in the parking bays or leasing a giant rail car. They have mixing vats where dye and fragrance are added and it is gravity fed to containers and the containers are moved on a conveyer belt to packaging. They make about 20,000 candles a day now and if they moved to Gardiner, would add 1 – 2 more shifts – provided growth continues to be good. There would be more truck traffic of raw materials, 2 – 3 truck loads in and outbound from about 6:00 AM – 2:30 PM. Currently there are 2 – 3 smaller trucks that deliver the candles to the warehouse. If they were to expand the production, it might change the times.
Chair Hart asked about the energy source. Mr. Wendland said it is 3-phase power, mostly electric.
Sarah Flaks asked if the fragrance is only smelled during the manufacturing hours or all of the time. Mr. Wendland said it is all of the time. Sarah asked if they had investigated negative pressure so that the air doesn’t go out. Mr. Wendland said he hasn’t looked at it, but it might be cost prohibitive.
Judy asked if the truck traffic would be about the same as currently happening. Mr. Wendland said they would be replacing some of the smaller trucks with larger ones. They are hoping to be able to bring the glass in by rail.
Chair Hart asked what was in the building now. Mr. Brescia said about two thirds of the area is the candle storage. A portion used to be used as office space.
Bill asked if it is limited to one fragrance per day. Mr. Wendland said it was usually 3 – 4 and up to 10 fragrances per day. Bill asked it the odor was confined to the same time of day. Mr. Wendland said it is stronger in the morning. Judy asked if the odor was predictable enough so that people could come down to the factory and see what they would smell. Mr. Wendland said that he would like to have an open house at the factory and let the neighbors and Board see what the process and odor is like.
Judy asked what kind of waste is generated and what do they do with it. Mr. Wendland said that they recycle all of it. The wax is sold to a company that makes fire starter logs and they recycle the plastic and cardboard. Judy asked if anything goes into the sewer system. Mr. Wendland said no. He also said that the wax is not flash-combustible and they take safety very seriously.
Chair Hart asked if there would be any issues because they are close to the River. Bill said that he would need to check to be sure, but didn’t think it was in the flood plain. The CEO agreed.
Jim Montell asked if there had been any manufacturing there in previous years. Mr. Brescia said it was a warehouse and he wasn’t aware that it had been used for manufacturing – at least not during Mr. McGoldrick’s ownership. It had been used by Dingley Press for storage.
Chair Hart asked what the building north of this building was used for. Mr. Brescia said he believed only storage. He said he is interested in selling the building because it is difficult to lease. This would be an opportunity to have a permanent tenant.
6:35 PM Chair Hart opened the meeting up for comments from the audience.
David Lovejoy, who lives directly behind the building, said that he can smell the candles in storage all of the time. He has asthma and the odor bothers him a lot. The candle storage came two years after he built his home. He has complained about it and nothing has been done. He tried to sell his home and two buyers said no because of the smell. The candles are hazardous to your health when burning. The smell would increase with the manufacturing. His house is only about 100’ from the building. He can smell the strong odor when he turns the corner onto Mill St. He feels the whole town would have trouble with this. The emissions are hazardous to your health according to the American Lung Association.
Chair Hart noted that the Board’s role is land use.
Mr. Lovejoy said that the odor is not just smell, but particles in the air and you can taste it.
Joan Lovejoy said that the Industrial Park is the place for manufacturing and this is a storage building. She doesn’t think that this belongs in a residential neighborhood.
Mr. Wendland said it is economics for him. To build would cost much more and it only makes sense to consolidate operations, to get the whole operations under one roof.
Mrs. Lovejoy asked if they could put in a filter to stop the odor. Chair Hart said that this is one of the things that the Board will consider.
Erin Moulton, an abutter who lives at 26 Mill St said that she is about 50’ further south of Mr. Lovejoy and she is very troubled by the odor and it is just storage. When she goes outside – at least 3 out of 7 days a week, her eyes get irritated from the odor and she can taste it. It is nauseating. She also believes it decreases her property value. She has great concerns and doesn’t feel it is the proper location.
Justin Walton lives at 657 River Av. He echoes all of the other sentiments. The odor is strong all times of the day if you are outside or have a window open. He is also concerned about the kids. He teaches at the Riverview School and there are hundreds of kids there. He can smell it at the school. He also knows what Topsham smells like. The kids ride bikes around town and he is concerned for them. His wife, Daria is also asthmatic and she said she is in favor of more jobs in town, but is concerned about trading a standard of living for a few jobs. They can’t afford a filtering system for their homes or to move. She is also concerned about the resale of their property.
Linda DeFarge lives at 10 Union St, across the road from the storage facility. She said it is good to have jobs, but she has driven on the Interstate with her car windows up and can smell the factory in Topsham. She wants to know what the Maine standards are for scents.
Judy Dorsey said that California has strict standards for health hazards, but not for scents or irritation by scents. Bill said that in Maine we consider it a nuisance issue and ask, can it be abated or mitigated, is it constant or intermittent.
Linda DeFarge is concerned because Mr. Wendland said he wasn’t sure what is in the scents as they purchase them pre-made. Bill said that we would need to know to ensure they meets Maine law and federal law. Linda said she definitely wants to know. Burning 1 candle is a lot different than making 20,000 candles a day. She is also concerned about her property value and the effect it might have if she wants to sell. She said that there were truck traffic problems with a previous company there. The tractor trailers idled all night long and would turn into Union St and back up across River Av to the loading docks on the building. It was unsafe and tied up traffic. There are a lot of young children in the area – it’s a very residential area. She’s not
against the business expanding but feels there are more appropriate commercial property areas within the city for a project of this scale.
Gene Wendland said that they buy the fragrances from chemists. They are proprietary mixes for certain scents – secret formulas. They could get a notarized statement from them that they do not contain toxic chemicals as listed in Proposition 65 in California.
Mrs. Lovejoy said it isn’t just smelling “Warm Apple Pie”; it’s all of them mixed together.
Judy Dorsey said she was baffled that there is so much odor since the candles are packaged the way they are and asked could they be packaged differently. Mr. Wendland said no.
David Cichowski asked if there were air exchanges in the building. Mr. Wendland said no.
Sarah Flaks asked if the company had done any research of odor abatement technology. Mr. Wendland said no, but a few years ago the company looked at it and found it to be enormously expensive.
Erin Moulton said that she has migraines and the odor triggers them.
Mr. Brescia said he had a conversation with Paul Aldrich, the owner about air abatement and Paul said it was cost prohibitive.
Chair Hart thanked everyone for their insight and comments. She went over the process that would happen if an application were to be submitted. She said that all of the abutters would be notified of the meeting and a legal ad would be put in the Kennebec Journal advertising the meeting. Mrs. Lovejoy said that it involves more than just the abutters – it’s everyone in the area. Chair Hart said that maybe the abutters could notify others that they think might be interested.
Chair Hart said that the Board can’t give the company any assurances, but said that the City’s Economic/Development and CEO offices are available to the Applicant for assistance with an application or questions.
OTHER
None
6.) ADJOURN
Pam Mitchel made a motion to adjourn. Judy Dorsey seconded the motion.
Vote: 4 in favor. 0 opposed. Motion passed.
Meeting adjourned at 7:23 PM
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