The following post was written by METF Co-Chair Marian Chioffi to explain the payments made to METF by the University of Maine as reimbursement for legal fees, surveying costs, and time/effort.
There’s been a lot of discussion about MAV paying Monhegan. In our effort to be as transparent as possible about the workings of METF, we thought we should say what money has changed hands and what it was for.
When METF formed in the fall, Tara and I agreed to co-chair the committee. I don’t think that either of us realized just how much time METF was going to take. In December, the 2 of us talked about how much time it was taking and that the time we spent on METF was time we didn’t spend doing the things we needed to do to earn a living. MAV offered to give us a stipend toward the time we were spending, but this didn’t seem right to us. We decided to ask the town and the power district if they would pay us for the time we were spending. In looking at this option, it was discovered that Tara could not be paid additional monies from the town since she is Monhegan’s First Assessor. I went to MPPD and asked if they could pay Tara and me for the time that we were spending on the MAV project. MPPD agreed to pay us for the time spent.
METF began speaking with MAV in the fall to try and get answers to the questions the community was asking. METF passed on the notion that Monhegan should not be responsible for any costs associated with this project. MAV offered to reimburse Monhegan for costs incurred.
In January MPPD submitted a bill to MAV for the following project related expenses:
- Survey of lots in proposed cable land fall area: $3,400.00
- Legal review November 2013 – January 2014: $5,434.28
- M. Chioffi and T. Hire: hours logged toward project November 1, 2013 – January 31, 2014 including community updates, discussions with legal counsel, and communications with Maine Aqua Ventus and the Island Institute — $4,980.00
Total Expenses November 1, 2013 – January 31, 2014 = $13,814.28
This reimbursement check was received in April 2014.
METF will continue speaking with the University of Maine about the test site even though the MAV project is currently on hold. We will continue to post any financial information here on our site.
Respectfully submitted,
Marian Chioffi
METF Co-chair
