Starks planning board concurs that NECEC project requires no additional town permits despite Dec. 2 expiry

Acting Planning Board Chair Ken Lust said on Oct. 16, 2024, that the Town of Starks Planning Board would consider a request from NECEC LLC to confirm that no additional permitting is required for the New England Clean Energy Connect (NECEC) project despite the project permit’s scheduled expiration on Dec. 2, 2024.

Sam Rice, an NECEC representative identified in the record, submitted a Sept. 19, 2024, letter and summarized the applicant’s position that the project will be “substantially complete” by the permit expiration as the Town’s Site Plan Review Ordinance (SPRO) defines that term (completion of at least 70% of project costs plus permanent stabilization and revegetation of disturbed areas). Rice also wrote that only one structure—pole 432-258—in the Resource Protection District of Lemon Steam would require emplacement prior to Dec. 2 and that subsequent work in the shoreland zone would be limited to aerial conductor pulls and revegetation overseen by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (MDEP) and a third‑party inspector.

The Planning Board reviewed the applicant’s letter and the Final Decision Document summarizing the submissions and findings and concluded it had no evidence to dispute the applicant’s assertions. Citing the SPRO definition of “substantially completed” and observed progress in the field, the board, on a motion and second, concurred with Assertion One (substantial completion) and Assertion Two (shoreland work complete on the ground) and formally found that no additional permitting under the SPRO or SZO was necessary. The board also waived a public hearing on the request.

The Final Decision Document records that the board’s acceptance was based on the applicant’s filings, the Sept. 19 letter, and the board’s observation that access roads, drilling activities and the majority of pole-setting had been completed or were scheduled before Dec. 2. The document notes that stabilization measures will continue and that both the project’s environmental inspector and the MDEP third‑party inspector will monitor compliance with applicable erosion, sedimentation and site restoration requirements.

The meeting minutes record that Chair Gwen Hilton recused herself from the matter and that Vice Chair Ken Lust served as acting chair; Byrne Wright was appointed a full voting member for this item. The Final Decision Document and the applicant’s Sept. 19 letter (signed by Samuel F. Rice of Burns & McDonnell) are enclosed in the record as the Board’s full decision and supporting materials.

The Planning Board minute and decision do not list a vote tally or identify the motion’s mover and seconder by name; the board’s formal action is recorded as concurrence with the applicant’s positions and a waiver of a public hearing. The board’s concurrence does not appear to include an independent site-by-site reinspection record in this document; it rests on the applicant’s submissions, the board’s stated observations, and planned MDEP/third‑party oversight.

Next steps indicated in the record: the Planning Board’s Final Decision Document was signed and placed in the record; the town file includes the applicant’s Sept. 19, 2024 letter and the Final Decision Document as the basis for the board’s concurrence.