BATH
With a 5-4 vote, Bath city councilors on Wednesday gave first passage to a sixmonth extension of a citywide moratorium on installation of “Smart Meters.”
Newly elected council chairman David Sinclair — sponsor of the original ordinance creating the moratorium and of the motion on Wednesday — cast the tiebreaking vote. He then scheduled a special meeting for Dec. 19, at which the council will consider final passage of the moratorium extension.
The special meeting is necessary because the current ordinance is due to expire on Dec. 19.
Central Maine Power plans to complete installation of the wireless meters statewide by early March, and as of Saturday, had installed nearly 485,000 of its goal of 625,000 Smart Meters, CMP spokesman John Carroll said this week.
Opponents of the wireless meters — among them, dozens of parties to complaints filed with the Maine Public Utilities Commission — allege that the meters interfere with wireless Internet and medical devices, and that the radio signals can cause health problems.
But CMP officials and their supporters assert that the meters are efficient and accurate, and no more dangerous than many other day-to-day items not similarly limited in Bath, such as baby monitors.
On June 2, the Bath City Council voted 5-3 to enact a 180-day moratorium on installation of Smart Meters in the city, blocking CMP from installing the meters without advance permission from individual property owners.
Advocating for an extended moratorium on Wednesday, Ward 1 Councilor Meadow Rue Merrill spoke of ongoing concerns about the safety of the wireless devices and billing issues.
“ There are too many unanswered questions on this subject,” At- large Councilor Steve Brackett agreed.
Bath resident Louise Sharp told councilors she supports the extension, but two other residents — including former Ward 1 Councilor James Omo — spoke against it.
“You’ve been advised by your own city solicitor that your ordinance is essentially indefensible,” resident John Sunderland said. “What are you going to do if CMP comes out and starts putting meters in? Will you have the police stop CMP? Will you bring legal action against CMP? If there is litigation resulting from the moratorium, are you going to use city tax dollars to defend an ordinance in which you have already been told you have no legal authority?”
Held to a five-minute comment, Carroll told councilors Wednesday night that, while outstanding questions may have existed about the technology when the original ordinance was enacted, “the (PUC) has addressed them and they are done … you may not like their decisions but … they have resolved those questions.”
However, Sinclair referred to a recent appeal filed by Bowdoinham resident Ed Friedman with the Maine Supreme Court in which the plaintiffs appealed a PUC decision about Smart Meters.
At-large City Councilor Andy Winglass said that while the original moratorium “served its purpose in bringing awareness of the subject,” he would vote to end the moratorium because of questions about authority.
Ward 4 Councilor Bernie Wyman said the Smart Meters on his house and an apartment have not caused problems, and Ward 5 Councilor Mari Eosco said the majority of people she’s heard from do not oppose the devices.
Voting to support an ordinance extending the moratorium were Brackett, Merrill, Pagurko, Rogers and — because of a tie — Sinclair. The City Council chairman only votes in cases of ties.
Eosco, Paulhus, Rogers and Winglass opposed.
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