Mainebiz

V o l . X X I N o. I I Ja N ua r y 2 6 , 2 0 1 5 6 Summit to pay $100K fine for sewer line damage Summit Natural Gas of Maine will pay a $100,000 fine after state regulators found that the utility's employees and contractors had dam- aged some sewer lines while install- ing pipeline. e Bangor Daily News reported that Summit reached an agreement on Jan. 13 with the Maine Public Utilities Commission to pay the fine. Summit also agreed to work on preventing future issues by changing its training practices. e newspaper quoted PUC Chairman Mark Vannoy as saying he believes Summit takes the violations seri- ously, adding that the violations "are a reflection on management." Maine crowdfunding law to boost businesses Maine has become the first state in the country to enact a crowd- funding law that allows companies to sell shares to investors wher- ever they reside. e Portland Press Herald reported that the new law, which took effect in January, allows Maine companies to raise debt or equity from anyone, regardless of location. e Maine crowdfund- ing law, however, comes with limits for both companies and investors. Companies are only allowed to raise $1 million in a 12-month rolling period, while any one investor can only give a total of $5,000. Maine community colleges president resigns John Fitzsimmons, president of the Maine Community College System, announced his resignation on Jan. 14 in the face of mounting pres- sure from Gov. Paul LePage. e Bangor Daily News reported that Fitzsimmons, who served as the system's president for nearly 25 years, made the decision despite support from the community college sys- tem's board. He will stay on until an interim leader is named, which is expected by the end of January. LePage said he wanted Fitzsimmons to resign for contributing to what he would later say was a "stagnant" community college system. In addi- tion, LePage said he was frustrated with the system's failure to achieve complete credit transferability between community colleges and Maine's public universities. He also cited the system's failure to continue the Bridge Year program, which lets high school students earn college credit before graduating, after run- ning a one-year pilot. In response, Fitzsimmons said the governor didn't have all the facts about the commu- nity college system's plans for credit transfer or the Bridge Year, for which he said the system had renewed its commitment. He said the commu- nity college and University of Maine systems were preparing to launch an initiative this year to establish com- plete credit transferability. Settlement reached in CDC whistleblower suit A former state worker has reached a settlement in her lawsuit against the Maine Department of Health and Human Services that accused super- visors of ordering her to shred public documents and retaliating against her when she declined. e Lewiston Sun Journal reported that a lawyer repre- senting Sharon Leahy-Lind, a former division director at the Maine Center for Disease Control, and office man- ager Katie Woodbury announced on the settlement with CDC supervisors and the DHHS on Jan. 13. Details of the settlement were not disclosed, but lawyer Cynthia Dill said she would seek a minimum of $500,000 for each of her two clients, along with attor- neys' fees and lost benefits. Eric Uhl, the lawyer representing the DHHS and CDC, declined to comment. N O t E w O r t h y S t a t e w i d e The Maine Office of Tourism in Augusta awarded a total of $70,000 in fall 2014 Tourism Enterprise Marketing Grants to the Bethel Maine Moose Lottery Festival, Hermione Visit to Castine, Emerge Film Festival, Flavors of Freeport, Maine Craft Weekend, Crown of Maine Balloon Festival, Maine Art Museum Trail and Katahdin Woods & Waters Scenic Byway. The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife received grants from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service totaling $670,000 to protect areas of wetland bird habitat. The fund- ing will be distributed to Weskeag River Wetlands Conservation Project ($450,000) and Little Yarmouth Island ($220,000). B U S I N E S S M A I N E Business news from around the state S T A T E W I D E Islanders and propane haulers grapple with tighter ferry restrictions Stricter oversight on transporting bottled propane has upset ferry operators and some island businesses. The issue first came up in November. U.S. Coast Guard officials ordered vessels in the Maine State Ferry Service to stop transporting propane and passengers simultaneously, saying propane carried in bulk would have to be transported separately, either on a private vessel or by privately contracting with the ferry to run at off-hours. "The initial problem was that there was no forewarning for either Vinalhaven or North Haven," says Joe Stone, town administrator for the island of North Haven. Without natural gas lines, island residents rely on propane as fuel to run stoves, furnaces and water heaters. The tighter oversight may have resulted from efforts by private gas suppliers to carry larger volumes. "What happened was there was concern from some of the islands that they wanted to start hauling propane in bulk on a 'bobtail' truck," says Dan McNichol, port captain for the state of Maine. He says people from Swans Island and Vinalhaven wrote to the federal Department of Transportation asking for clarification on how much propane can be carried on Maine State Ferry Service vessels that are also hauling people. "It must have gotten forwarded to the Coast Guard. They looked at the letter and determined that we weren't supposed to haul propane at all," McNichol says. Coast Guard Commander John Humpage says Coast Guard guidelines pro- hibit the transportation of passengers and propane at the same time, except for personnel directly involved with the transport, such as a driver and an assistant. McNichol says the Coast Guard actions effectively supersede the DOT cer- tification many operators thought was enough. Rex Crockett, who transports bottled propane to sell through his plumbing business on North Haven, was forced to wait eight days before he was allowed to bring his propane truck on the boat. "The absence of notice, combined with weather-related trip cancellations, was a major hardship for Rex, who kept getting bumped from day to day. He had run out of propane completely," Stone says. Crocket adds,"I've been hauling it in my own truck for almost 20 years and never had an ounce of trouble." North Haven and Swans Island have enlisted assistance from Maine's con- gressional delegations, and the Coast Guard granted a temporary solution on Nov. 24, maintaining a buffer zone around propane trucks on ferries and limiting passengers to the number of seats available in the cabin. Humpage says the Coast Guard is evaluating concerns of all involved parties. — C o u r t n e y N a l i b o f f P h o t o / w i l l i a m t r e va S k i S Joe Stone, town administrator for the island of North Haven, says island communities were not warned of tighter regulations on propane transportation.

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