Conservation Commission News by Carol Korty

(Lamoine)-Lamoine's Conservation Commission chose two points of focus this fall: the next phase of the Freshwater Initiative and recycling options for Lamoine.

Last year the Freshwater Initiative focused primarily on gathering data about wells over or near the sand and gravel aquifer. Recordings were made of groundwater table elevations in many locations; some tests for water quality were run as well. Fortunately, no red flags appeared! The first phase of the Freshwater Initiative has provided us with a baseline to which future studies can be compared. Continuing to keep track of water levels and testing for quality over a long period of time is important if we are to avoid surprises, or worse yet, crises. Therefore, the LCC will work to see that selected wells in Lamoine, Hancock, and Ellsworth will continue to be monitored for both quality and quantity. The main focus this year, however, will be setting up an educational program involving Lamoine's Consolidated School and Ellsworth High School in which students will be taught to conduct simple water quality tests on water samples and to enter the data onto computer spreadsheets. The intent is to make water testing part of the science curricula in both schools. John Peckenham and Teresa Thornton of the George Mitchell Center for Environmental and Watershed Research at UMaine will create curricula to interface with that of the schools and the state's mandate. A training session with teachers will occur this winter, with the testing and data entry in the spring. We're excited about this next phase and are happy that teachers and principals are enthusiastic as well.

Recycling options: Why care? We'd like to save the town money, as the cost of hauling trash from our transfer station is predicted to rise significantly. And we'd like to lessen the amount of stuff that is dumped into landfills, when many of those materials could be re-used. Lamoine is surrounded by quite a variety of models for recycling, as many of our neighboring towns have systems different from ours. The LCC has been researching these models, doing some crunching of numbers -- the process is more complicated than we first thought -- and brainstorming. Be on the look out for one or more public sessions in which we'll present our findings and seek opinions and ideas from other Lamoiners.

Many other concerns have been brought to our attention. Among them are: access to the shore, activity in the inter-tidal zone, sustainable forestry, reclamation of used gravel pits, and bike & walking paths. These are important issues, but we can not address them until more volunteers step forward to help us – as Georgia Munsell did when suggesting an annual trash pick up day, which she now coordinates each spring. Thank you, Georgia! LCC has generated an additional wish list as well. We sure could use help making signs for the Transfer Station; creating art work for presentations – to name just a few.

LCC meets on the second Wednesday of each month, 7-9 PM at Town Hall. Everyone's welcome–please come and join us!

Budget Committee Wrestles With Cap

(Lamoine) — The burning question before Lamoine's Budget Committee this season has been whether the town will be faced with increasing the cap on municipal property taxation. No definitive answer has yet come. The town is currently barred by state law from raising any property tax money for the non-school, non-county portion of the budget. An override vote must be approved in writing by the town meeting in order to raise that cap above zero.

Preliminary budget submissions by the various town boards and staff show an increase in the expenditure side of 8.9% with a reduction in municipal revenues of just over 1%. If approved as proposed at year's end, property taxes would need to raise $53,335 to fully fund the municipal (non-school, non-county) budget. That translates to roughly .23 mills, or $23 on property worth $100,000. The current mill rate for the school and county budgets is 7.3 mills, or $730 for a $100,000 piece of property.

The committee will begin review of the school budget in January. The preliminary submission from the school department shows only a 0.44% increase in the expenditure side of the budget. Combined with a large amount carried forward and state education aid, the amount needed from property taxes in the proposal actually would fall by a few thousand dollars if approved as presented. Final budget recommendations are expected January 23rd.

Tax Rate Calculation Error Means Low Rate

(Lamoine) — The State Legislature monkeyed around with the Homestead Exemption during its 2005 session, saving a significant chunk for homeowners. The changes were also reflected in the various forms supplied to Assessors, but without explanation on how to re-figure calculations. That translated into a tax rate in Lamoine that was probably lower than it should have been.

In previous years the amount of value exempt under the Homestead laws has been included in the total taxable value at the beginning of the calculation sheet. Now, because the state is only reimbursing half of the amount, all the homestead value was apparently supposed to be deducted from the taxable property. Administrative Assistant Stu Marckoon provided the higher tax value to the Assessors to base the mill rate upon. To compound the problem, half the exempt value was to be added back, creating a doubly higher value.

Thankfully, the amount called “overlay”, the difference between what was needed to raise and the amount raised exceeded the amount lost in the calculation error, meaning the town coffers will not suffer significantly. In discussing the error, Selectman Richard Fennelly Jr. noted that had the calculation been done correctly, the tax rate would have been higher. He said erring on the side of the tax payer to have a lower bill is never a problem. Marckoon says he'll make sure it's correct in 2006.

Parks May Get Fancy New Signs

Proposed Sign

Parks Committee members say they'd like to construct signs similar to this one in Acadia National Park at Lamoine's 3 Park Areas.

Trash Hauling Bids Sought

(Lamoine) — The town is seeking bids to haul waste and recycling from the transfer station to the incinerator in Orrington and the recycling collection point in Bangor. The current contract with Pine Tree Waste expires June 30, 2006, and is the 2nd largest component of the solid waste budget.

Specifications for the job were mailed to a list of trash transportation contractors obtained from numerous sources, including the State Planning Office. Bids are due by January 26, 2006. It's hoped the bids will give the Selectmen and Budget Committee an idea of how much will be needed in the 2006/07 budget for transportation in time for town meeting. (see bid advertisement)

Capital Plan Developed

(Lamoine) — Selectmen and the Budget Committee have an idea of what's coming down the road in the next 10-years in regard to capital needs. At the request of both boards, town officials have submitted their list of major projects that will require funding. The list includes things like a revaluation, replacing the town hall and fire station roofs, fire apparatus purchases, town hall additions, and road paving projects.

The various needs were laid out on a spread sheet and the suspected needs were listed for each year to give an idea of what funding will need to be set aside to accomplish the projects. Some fine tuning is still needed on the capital projects plan.