TOPSHAM

The Topsham Board of Selectmen will consider a proposed ordinance tonight that would create a 5-cent fee on reusable bags for certain commercial businesses.

The discussion follows the board’s July 7 vote to send the bag fee ordinance proposed by Bring Your Own Bag Midcoast to town staff for review.

The group has proposed bag and Styrofoam ordinances in Topsham and Brunswick in an effort to keep harmful materials out of the environment. On July 7, selectmen voted against moving forward with the proposed ban on Styrofoam food and beverage packaging.

Town Manager Rich Roedner wrote in a memo to selectmen that he has made revisions to the draft ordinance, addressing some of the comments from the board and public at that meeting.

The main changes, he said, are that the ordinance now applies to all retail establishments except restaurants and implementation would be set for 10 months after adoption of the ordinance to allow businesses time to reprogram computers. Also under this revised version, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients have a permanent exclusion if stores choose to provide single-use carryout bags to those shoppers.

According to Roedner, the board has time to make changes before holding a public hearing on Aug. 18 in order to place the ordinance on the November ballot.

Selectmen will also be asked to allow a temporary pop-up park in the Lower Village parking lot on Sept. 11. Assistant Planner Carolyn Eyerman said staff has worked with the Lower Village Committee to create a half-day event called a pop-up park. These are generally temporary, low cost, mobile and highly visible events, and would be designed to present the idea of how a park might function in the Lower Village.

In other action tonight, selectmen will discuss a policy on whether the town should require it replace mailboxes damaged by town plows and if so, should it limit how much it spends to replace mailboxes damaged or destroyed while in the street right of way.

Public Works Director Dennis Cox noted that the town has no policy, but it has been the town’s practice in recent years to replace damaged mailboxes. In recent years, however, property owners have begun to install more expensive and decorative mailboxes and support structures and have asked the town to install similar replacement mailboxes at a higher cost.

Selectmen will also consider granting Cox permission to move forward with Crooker Construction to pave several streets in town in the current fiscal year, including Pejepscot Village Main Street, Abenaki Drive, Sokokis Circle, Bickford Drive, Lovers Lane and Cathance Road.

Selectmen will consider accepting a final report of the Aging in Place Community survey results and consider awarding a construction contract for the Topsham Trails Multi Use Path. They will also hear updates from members of the Topsham Sewer Board and from John Shattuck, Topsham’s economic and community development director.

A public hearing is scheduled as well on renewal of a special amusement permit for the Fairground Café.

The meeting will begin at 7 p.m. at the municipal building.

dmoore@timesrecord.com