The Buxton Planning Board continued to raise questions Monday about the town’s plans for a new public works garage and things that were missing from the town’s application, leaving selectmen to wonder whether the board would approve the site for the garage.

“The Planning Board hasn’t said they agree to the location,” Selectman Dan Collomy said in an interview.

Collomy heads a town committee that is proposing a new garage next to Buxton Town Hall on Portland Road. It would replace the present aging and inefficient town garage on Haines Meadow Road in Buxton Center.

Selectmen have been at odds with the Planning Board over the project. The dispute has led the Planning Board to consider hiring its own lawyer, rather than consult with the town attorney. And, last week Collomy questioned whether Planning Board Chairman Keith Emery, who is a cousin of Selectman Cliff Emery, should vote on the project because he works for the town’s public works department, which would operate out of the new building.

Along with Selectman Jean Harmon, Collomy and hired engineer Bill Hoffman met Monday with planning board members to hear their concerns and answer questions about the garage plans. No decision has been made on the selectmen’s request.

Plans for the proposed garage call for it to be located on the opposite side of Town Hall from the transfer station and the salt shed. Some Planning Board members have questioned the location the selectmen have picked.

Sue Schaller, one of the members, asked this week if the transfer station could be converted to a town garage and then build a new transfer station. But Harmon said it wasn’t designed for a garage.

A driveway serving the garage has been contentious between selectmen and the planning board. Selectmen want the garage to have its own driveway and they have a permit for a driveway from the Maine Department of Transportation.

And selectmen propose bulk fuel storage at the site. Both of those remain on the plans being mulled by the planning board. “They’re still under discussion,” Collomy said following the meeting. “I’m not sure how it will turn out.”

Some Planning Board members have advocated the garage share a driveway with the Town Hall, transfer station, salt shed and police department. That would eliminate another entrance onto the heavily traveled Portland Road.

Chris Baldinelli, a Planning Board member, is concerned about lights from town trucks shining onto houses on the opposite side of Portland Road if the town garage were to have its own driveway. He said there’s a house directly across from the driveway selectmen are proposing.

Planning Board Vice Chairman Cullen Ryan said there’s a controversy about “quality of life” for those residents that would be affected by truck lights.

Barbara Elwell, a recently appointed member of the Planning Board, asked if the concern about lights meant the separate driveway wouldn’t be allowed.

Ryan said that alone wouldn’t mean the driveway would be disallowed. “But it’s a factor,” Ryan said.

On the fuel storage question, a possible contamination of an underground aquifer is a Planning Board concern if there were a fuel spill or a leak. Keith Emery said bulk fuel tanks are not permitted above an aquifer.

“This plan has to go through the Department of Environmental Protection,” he said.

But Hoffman said Maine Geological Survey maps don’t show an aquifer under the site proposed for a garage. But planning board member Wanda Emery disagreed, pointing to a special groundwater features map and an aquifer map in the town’s 1991 comprehensive plan.

Selectmen’s plans are to store fuel at the site to supply the town’s vehicles including fire trucks and police cruisers. They prefer a two-compartment tank for 3,000 gallons of diesel with 2,000 gallons for gasoline. The tank would be double lined with a built-in alarm system in case of a leak. It would be encased in a concrete container as an added safety factor.

The Planning Board is requiring selectmen to provide details about ////trees, which would screen the garage from view, asking for more than a fence.//// And with an eye on the environment, Dennis Santolucito, a Planning Board member, advocated minimizing amounts of lime and fertilizer used in reseeding areas around the garage to grass. Schaller called for a soil test to determine how much lime and fertilizer would be required in reseeding grass. Hoffman said lime and fertilizer would be needed to establish grass roots quickly.

Schaller also asked for a parking plan to determine the size of paved areas around the garage. Plows and sanders would also be stored on pavement outside the garage.

Collomy said the proposed garage would be a single-story, 80-by-120-foot building with five bays. It would include a furnace room, bathroom and offices. It would have an oil-fired heating system and two bays could have radiant heat in the floor.

Selectmen, board meet on garage