No Proposals Yet On Buttermilk Road

(Lamoine) — The oft asked question of the fall is what's happening on Buttermilk Road. Big pieces of forestry equipment started removing trees by the hundreds from an undeveloped parcel on the South side of the road, and a large swath on the North side yielded large amounts of trees. North Lamoine contractor David Crane said he was hired by the landowner to cut the wood which is now fetching good prices at paper and lumber mills. Crane said he's not sure what the New Hampshire landowner intends to do with the property. The town office has received no proposals regarding the land or any inquiries about any development project.

What's Happening on Buttermilk Rd?

A crew from Crane's Contract Cutting has worked late into the night felling, limbing and loading trees onto trucks for shipment.

Bangor Hydro Purchases Subdivision, Building

High Voltage Line Could Run Through North Lamoine

(Lamoine) — Bangor Hydro Electric is looking seriously at a new high voltage power line to serve Mount Desert Island, and Lamoine might lay smack in the middle of the path. The utility has started purchasing land along a potential route, though officials say nothing is carved in stone, yet. Several regulatory hurdles at the state, federal and local level must be cleared before any line is constructed. Utility representatives attended a meeting with the Conservation Commission in October and explained that Mt. Desert Island is under-served. A new line, potentially from the substation in Hancock, would be used to eliminate the need to run the expensive diesel powered generators in Bar Harbor during peak usage times. Currently only one transmission line runs to MDI, down Route 3 in Trenton.

Gerard Chasse of Bangor Hydro stressed to the audience that the utility has not decided on any final route at this time. The company has recently purchased two pieces of land in Lamoine, though. One was the recently approved Beal Estates subdivision off Douglas Highway. That stretches nearly all the way to Buttermilk Road, where the utility had purchased a house lot about 12-years ago. The second purchase was a home on 119 Buttermilk Road that went up for sale. The former owner, ironically, had called the town office to express concern that surveyors working for Bangor Hydro were cutting trees on her land. Chasse said if the line doesn't follow that route, they could re-sell all the house lots in the future.

Power to the People (of MDI)

Bangor Hydro Electric's Gerry Chasse explained how the current power grid serves Hancock County to a crowd at the Lamoine Conservation Commission meeting in October

Cable TV Sale Proceeds

(Lamoine) — Selectmen in Lamoine have opted not to oppose a transfer of the Cable TV Franchise agreement from bankrupt Adelphia to Time-Warner cable. The Board did not endorse a resolution promoted by attorneys representing several Maine communities. The sale to Time-Warner is expected to conclude in early 2006.

Trash Totals Plummet

(Lamoine) - With one more week of trash to send to the incinerator in Orrington it looks as though the annual amount of trash will drop approximately 23-percent in Lamoine. That should save at least $6,600 in the bill that Lamoine has to pay to the PERC incinerator.

Several factors may play a part in the reduction. The biggest may be Pine Tree Waste's segregation of commercial trash away from the town's residential garbage. The company found it had mixed in the commercial trash and refunded the town for the estimated overage. At the same time, other trash companies have picked up some residential and commercial accounts in Lamoine lowering the amount going to the transfer station.

Recycling may be playing a part too, as weights seem to be up a bit in 2005. Finally, as the town noticed that weights (and costs) were rising, it instituted a new trash sticker program. Transfer Station manager Allen Sternfield has been quite diligent in requiring users to have the proper residential sticker to use the transfer station.

The 2005 estimated tonnage will be in the 580-ton range, which is about 2% higher than the amount sent to the PERC plant in 2000. It costs the town an average of $45/ton to dispose of the trash at the incinerator where it is burned to produce electricity. Each ton of trash recycled avoids that cost and depending on the material recycled, generates some revenue to the community used to offset the transportation cost to the Bangor Recycling Center.

Abatement Denied

(Lamoine) - Selectmen denied a tax abatement request submitted by Douglas and Beverly Coleman of Seal Point Road. The Colemans said tax assessors had erred in previous years in regard to the valuation of their land which was protected by a conservation easement. State law provides that only the Selectmen can abate taxes a year after the tax commitment is made. The same law, though, prohibits the Selectmen from granting abatements for errors. The Board of Assessors advised the Selectmen in regard to the law. The recent factored revaluation prompted the abatement request.

Entrance Project Continues

(Lamoine) — The attempt to bring the town hall entrance into full compliance with the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) for voting continues. A new light installed by Noel Dechar (Excalibur the Electrician) lights up the ramp at night for meetings. Railings still need to come up by a couple inches, and former Selectman Glenn Crawford of C&C Machine will be working on that. Additionally he will install rails along the rebuilt pavement ramp.

While at the town hall seeing how best to raise the railings Crawford finally installed an eagle atop the town hall's flag pole. The town had purchased the eagle in the 1990's when the pole was installed, and it sat at the machine shop for years waiting for installation, which was no small trick. While Crawford climbed an extension ladder leaned against the pole, firefighters Mike Jordan and Stu Marckoon held it steady the base. A few shots with a welder, and the eagle finally had a new home.

Cutting More Than Taxes

Former Selectman Glenn Crawford slices steel to attempt to raise the railings.

The Eagle Has Landed

Atop Lamoine's Flagpole In November