HOULTON — Changes to the town’s traffic ordinance will now restrict the amount of engine braking done by larger vehicles inside the urban compact area.
“This particular ordinance took a number of sessions to revise,” Houlton Town Manager Butch Asselin said. The ordinance was last updated in the early 1990s.”
Asselin said one of the highlights of the ordinance revision is that engine braking, also referred to as “jake” braking, will now be barred inside the urban compact area 24 hours a day. Outside of the compact area, engine braking will be prohibited between the hours of 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.
“Instead of creating fines for each particular violation, the fines will be at the discretion of a judge with a maximum amount of $250 per occurrence.
Fines for parking violations were also adjusted. In the new ordinance, the fines for parking violations (two-hour) and improper parking are now $10; parking in a curb loading, commercial loading or prohibited zone or parking within eight feet of a fire hydrant comes with a $25 fine; overnight parking is a fine of $30 and illegally parking in a handicapped spot is a $75 fine.
The town also now has an option to create 15-minute parking zones in the downtown, if a business owner requests it.
The Maine Department of Transportation was involved with the policy review process and has agreed to do a review of traffic patterns in downtown Houlton and an assessment of crosswalks and parking spaces in the community, Asselin said. Results of that review will be presented at a future session.
SADC review
In other items, the council heard a brief overview from Scott Dionne, president of the Southern Aroostook Development Corporation, and Jon McLaughlin, SADC’s executive director, on the role of the group.
Dionne explained the mission of SADC is to promote economic growth throughout southern Aroostook County. SADC is funded by economic contributions from municipalities, with Houlton being one of the largest providers at $24,000 on a yearly basis.
Dionne said the best way to describe SADC was to use a three-prong approach. The first prong is McLaughlin, who works with other development agencies both in Aroostook County and at the state level, looking for economic opportunities for the area.
The second prong is the SADC board, which is made up of 18 members in the business community. The group meets regularly with business owners, who research economic investment opportunities for the area.
The various working committees, which are made up of board members and volunteers, who provide more of a hands-on approach to assist businesses, make up the third prong.
“One big thing is alumni relations,” Dionne said. “We speak to people who were from here who do not live here anymore. If we continue to reach out to these people, our hope is they will consider investing back into southern Aroostook.”
The next council meeting is set for Monday, April 13, at 6 p.m.
