The Lamoine Quarterly - April 2005

New Majority Elected to Selectmen's Board

(Lamoine) — A seven-way race for three slots on the newly expanded Board of Selectmen brought a relatively heavy voter turnout March 8th. The election winners took their seats at the regular Selectmen's meeting on March 17th. Cynthia Donaldson won the 3-year seat with 220 votes to William Pinkham's 199 and Kari Graceland's 8. Graceland had dropped out of the race and urged people not to vote for her. Richard Fennelly, Jr. won the 2-year seat, outpolling Donna Thorburn 239 to 168. Brett Jones won the 1-year slot, garnering 211 votes to Richard Davis' 198. A total of 430-voters showed up on a very rainy, slippery day to cast their ballots at the town hall. Incumbent Selectman Glenn Crawford decided not to run for re-election.

Running unopposed for re-election to office were School Committee member Bonnie Marckoon (375 votes), and Assessor Terry Towne (349 votes). Mrs. Marckoon begins her 3rd term on the School Committee. Mr. Towne is serving his 2nd term as a tax assessor.

Voters in Lamoine approved expansion of the Board of Selectmen to five members last June following a petition request for the increase. An ordinance change in November clarified how the terms would be staggered. By state law, Selectmen are elected at the annual town meeting.

Special Town Meeting Set for April 28th

(Lamoine) — Lamoine voters will be asked to make more corrections to the Building & Land Use Ordinance, purchase land behind the school, and to increase the municipal property tax commitment base at a special town meeting to be held April 28th at the Lamoine Consolidated School (7:00 PM).

The increase to the municipal tax commitment is necessary following passage of LD-1 by the Maine Legislature. The new rules set a maximum amount a town can raise for property taxes based on the 2004/05 budget. In Lamoine's case, that amount came out to be a negative number, because the town had more revenues than expenses budgeted for the municipal portions of the budget. The funding approved at the March 9, 2005 town meeting, though, requires that property taxes will have to be used to fund the 2005/06 budget. The article will ask that the budget approved at the town meeting be the basis for the tax commitment increase.

Voters will be asked whether they want to purchase around 3-acres of land to square off property in back of the school. The land belongs to the Miller family and would cost around $36,000.

The other article to be voted upon will correct a few of the changes made to the Building and Land Use Ordinance approved March 9th. A new table and list of changes proposed is available at the town office, as is a quick explanation of the maximum municipal tax commitment issue.

Firefighters Rescue Two Trapped In Icy Cove

(Lamoine) - Good training, the right equipment, innovating thinking and most importantly trust and teamwork. That's what Lamoine firefighters credit as they saved two women from drowning in Raccoon Cove on February 2nd.

The 9-1-1 call came in around 1:15 PM that a dog had broken through the ice as Irene Bergman and Debbie Fitch were taking them for a walk on Marlboro Beach on the first sunny, warm afternoon in weeks. The Hancock County RCC telephoned the Town Office to ask if the Lamoine Fire Department wanted to try to rescue the dog. Asst. Fire Chief & Town Administrator Stu Marckoon advised that the Fire Department should be paged out to see what could be done.

Arriving at the fire house, Asst. Chief Engineer Maury Oliver decided to take the lead pumper truck, thinking the ladders might come in handy. Capt. Jerry Jordan brought the rescue boat and utility truck, while other firefighters drove in their personal vehicles. Firefighters Mike Jordan and Kermit Theall were on scene within a few minutes of the call and discovered that the women who were walking the dog had gone over the ice to try to rescue it themselves, and they broke through the ice and were immersed in the cold water. That changed the entire call, and an ambulance was immediately dispatched to the scene.

Mike Jordan and Marckoon donned ice rescue suits, Oliver, Theall and Jerry Jordan positioned the rescue boat for launch, and the race was on to reach the women in the water. Because the ice was too thick close to shore, the motor could not propel the boat, so Jordan and Marckoon pushed it along the ice until they broke through. Marckoon kept swimming and crawling until he reached the victims to keep them afloat, while Jordan got the boat going and used it as an ice-breaker to get within about 20-feet of Marckoon and the two women.

Jordan tossed a rope with a latch to Marckoon who was able to tie it around the women one at a time. He pushed, Jordan pulled, and the effort got each woman into the boat. Prior to getting out of the ice hole, both women were conscious, but starting to suffer from hypothermia. Once in the boat, one became unconscious, but still breathing. Jordan also hauled Marckoon into the boat, as he'd become quite cold and wet when water leaked into the rescue suit.

The next part of the difficult rescue was getting the victims from about 300-yards out to the waiting ambulance. Jordan piloted the boat to about 100-feet from shore where the ice kept it from moving further. Oliver slid a ladder out with a rope attached. He , Jordan and Marckoon rolled one of the women onto the ladder while firefighters Theall, Joe Young, and David Herrick Jr. pulled it back to shore. Theall had driven home to get a canoe, and that was sent out next with the rope attached and the 2nd woman was placed into the canoe and pulled into shore. By that time the ladder was free again, and Marckoon got onto that, and he was pulled to shore to get out of the wet gear.

Jordan then took the boat out again to get the dog (named Jake) who got into the boat and was safely brought ashore. Jake fared about the best of anyone in the ordeal, though he seemed quite glad to get into a warm fire truck.

County Ambulance EMT's treated Bergman and Fitch at the scene and transported them to Maine Coast Memorial Hospital . Both recovered well from the ordeal, which they described as being about the dumbest thing they'd ever done. They and their husbands joined the fire department for their annual election supper at the fire house a couple of weeks later.

Animal Control Officer Harry Lounder was called in to corral other dogs at the scene, and took them to the Small Animal Clinic where their owners retrieved them.

Lost in the rescue were a fire department pager and radio which did not fare well in salt water, and a digital camera from the town office that Marckoon had put in his jacket which ended up in the rescue boat and got soaked. WABI-TV had extensive coverage of the operation with a reporter at the scene. Several news organizations also wrote and aired the story that week.

Town Meeting Approves Budget, Ordinances

(Lamoine) — The annual town meeting drew 150-voters to the Lamoine School despite a snow storm, icy roads, and limited parking. The 39 articles on the warrant passed, but not without questions raised from voters on everything from the school budget to ordinances.

Ordinance Changes Pass

The Planning Board presented four articles to amend the Building and Land Use Ordinance. One added definitions, another added a junkyard section, one added fire protection measures to subdivisions, and the largest made a number of changes throughout the ordinance. Members carefully explained the purpose for the changes to the voters, and each measure passed on hand votes. The amendments were developed after several previous votes had gone down to defeat on various proposed amendments. Voters also approved a new Parks Ordinance which means the Selectmen will appoint a new 5-member committee to set rules and run Lamoine's two parks, Lamoine Beach and Bloomfield Park. The Selectmen are actively seeking volunteers to serve on the committee.

The Budget

Voters easily passed the 2005/2006 budget, but added some expenditures in excess of the budget committee recommendations. A move to trim $10,000 from the Education personnel budget failed to win much support. The voter making the motion said he felt the cut should come because the town lost its appeal of a special education case in federal court. That decision necessitated an alteration to the current fiscal year budget of about $37,000 from the balance forward account which would have been used to offset property taxes in next year's budget.

Other budget action included an increase in the social service agency budget to fund the Loaves & Fishes Food Pantry at $600, an additional $500 in the Parks & Recreation budget to accommodate the YMCA's request for increased funding, and a $3,000 increase in the library budget. The latter budget is below what the Ellsworth Public Library had requested, but represents the first increase in many years in that budget.

Overall, the town approved $2.8 million in spending, up 2.9% from the current fiscal year ($78,000). Lower revenues, though, means the town will have to raise $210,000 more through property taxes, an increase of approximately 1.2 mills. However, a planned revaluation will likely mean a mill-rate drop as valuations increase.

On-Line Registration Now Available

(Lamoine) — Lamoine is the first community in Hancock County to offer vehicle re-registration services on-line. Starting March 15th, Lamoine residents can take part in the Rapid Renewal program through the Secretary of State's office. A link to the service is contained on Lamoine's website (www.lamoine-me.gov).

The renewal process is available 24-hours a day. It requires that you have your proof of insurance, current registration, current mileage, and your checking account information. The web service is done through a secure site contracted by the State of Maine .

The state sends the excise tax to the town's checking account, but keeps the agent fee that would normally be collected at the town office.