We proudly represent municipalities, municipal boards and committees, municipal officials, water and sewer districts, and quasi-governmental entities across the state on a broad range of matters including contracts, labor relations and employment, ordinance drafting, elections, property taxation, tax increment financing, eminent domain, litigation, and regulation, including land use and enforcement matters.
Practice Group Chair Jim Katsiaficas was formerly Senior Staff Attorney for the Maine Municipal Association and served as the Association’s Assistant Director for State and Federal Relations. He is a past chair of the Maine State Bar Association’s Natural Resources and Environmental Law and Public Sector and Government Lawyers’ Sections, was state chair for the International Municipal Lawyers Association, and is a board member and past chair of the Environmental and Energy Technology Council of Maine (“E2Tech”).
REPRESENTATIVE MATTERS
Some recent matters our Municipal Practice Group has handled include:
- Assisted a municipal sewer district in securing legislative approval of an amendment to its charter, resulting in the passage of a Private and Special Law.
- Advised a municipality’s select board regarding a proposed amendment to the municipality’s zoning ordinance.
- Helped create the Long Creek Watershed Management District, consisting of over 100 public and private owners, in response to the US EPA’s first in the nation use of its Residual Designation Authority to require restoration of an urban impaired stream.
- On an ongoing basis, serve as fact finder / investigator for municipal employment and discipline matters.
- Successfully represented the town of Bucksport and the City of Bath in property tax abatement cases.
- Represented the Town of Wells in obtaining permits for its harbor dredge and beach nourishment from the DEP, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the Department of Conservation Bureau of Parks and Land.
- Represented the Maine Municipal Association in drafting a sample post-construction stormwater regulation ordinance for use by thirty Maine cities and towns affected by the Clean Water Act (small MS4 municipalities)
- Provide ongoing representation of the City of Old Town with regard to expansion of the state-owned Juniper Ridge Landfill.