Transfer Station Passes State Inspection
(Lamoine) — No news is good news when it comes to the annual transfer
station inspection from the Department of Environmental Protection.
Inspector Karen Knuuti reports there are no deficiencies of note at
the recycling center. Last year the town had to pay for cleanup of contaminated
soils around the former metals pile, putting the transfer station operation
over budget for the year.
Hazardous Waste Collection Popular
(Somesville) — The eight permits allocated to Lamoine went quickly
as residents looking for ways to get rid of hazardous waste had a relatively
easy solution. The MDI League of Towns and the Hancock County Planning
Commission co-sponsored a Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) collection
scheduled for October 2nd in Somesville. Lamoine had 8-permits allocated
on a first come/first served basis. The Selectmen voted to offer the
permits for free, with the town paying up to $50/each for disposal costs.
Those seeking permits after the supply was exhausted were referred to
permit holders and encouraged to pool the HHW for the collection. The
waste included oil paint, motor oil, gasoline, pesticides, herbicides,
and other fluids and solids. It does not include old TV’s and
computer monitors. Those can be disposed of at Environ the 1st Saturday
of each month in Hancock. A new flyer explains that.
Computers Upgraded
(Lamoine) — A computer hard drive started to disintegrate in the
Town Clerk’s office in August, destroying about 30-days of data,
and causing some heartburn. Thankfully, the files with the past 4-years
of work on the same hard drive were backed up and quickly recovered.
Computer guru Brett Jones who likes to rebuild old, discarded computers
from time to time, had a couple he donated to the town hall. The new
computer in the clerk’s office works much faster than the old
one, and a new public computer was installed, offering boards and the
general public high speed Internet access.
Historical Society News By Susan Wuorinen
(Lamoine) — Lamoine Historical Society had a busy summer. Members
have worked many Saturday mornings doing an inventory as the first phase
of cataloging the entire collection. Because there is no heat in our
building, we will retreat to Anne Stocking's house for the winter months
and continue working on the paper archives. The Society received a $1300
grant from the Maine State Archives for archival storage materials,
such as acid-free folders and boxes. Our thanks to Anne Stocking for
her professional work on the grant application. The Society will need
to match the grant with in-kind volunteer time and with matching funds.
The Society held a number of special programs and events. At the July
"World War II Memory Fest" many long-time residents came with
their own memories of this era. Stories of few houses in town with indoor
plumbing, home vegetable gardens, the exodus of most of the male population
to factories or war, air raid wardens patrolling the roads and military
war exercises at Lamoine Beach told of a very different Lamoine in the
early 1940’s. Veterans Jim Tweedie and Maurice Googins shared
their stories, as well. In August, Bob Havey and Jim Torrey from Old
Creamery Antiques in Ellsworth presented a program on appraising antiques
and did free appraisals for those attending. Also in August, Carol Ackerman
organized the annual “Potluck Concert” at the Meeting House
to benefit the Building Fund, and the Lamoine Baptist Church held its
annual service there the next day. In September Rebecca Cole-Will, Abbe
Museum Curator spoke at the Annual Meeting about early Native American
archaeological sites along the coast, followed by a pie and ice cream
social.
Officers for the upcoming year will be: President Jo Cooper, Vice-President
Anne Stocking, Treasurer Walt McFarland, Recording Secretary Marion
McFarland, and Corresponding Secretary Susan Wuorinen.
The Historical Society plans to meet throughout the winter on the 4th
Wednesday of the month, 7:30 pm. Dues are $10 a year. The next scheduled
meeting is October 27. Contact Marion McFarland (667-8893), Anne Stocking
(667-6564) or Jo Cooper (667-7062) for more information on the Historical
Society.
Road Mowing Contract Bid Awarded
(Lamoine) — Some years its like pulling teeth to try to find someone
to mow the roadsides. This summer, though, three parties submitted bid
prices for the job. The contract initially went to George Smith of Milford,
but he had to decline after finding out liability insurance would be
too costly to make it worth his while. The bid was then awarded to E.
Skip Grindle of Ellsworth, who was the next low bidder. Lamoine resident
George Crawford also bid on the project and had a slightly higher estimate
than Mr. Grindle. The wet weather for most of the summer meant higher
grass than usual to mow this year.
Road Projects Planned for October
(Lamoine) — Two roads will see the bulk of the repair work performed
in Lamoine this fall. Shore Road will have several culverts replaced
and shoulders shaped up. The biggest project will be replacement of
a 3-foot diameter cross culvert that has started to wash out. Guardrails
will also be installed after the new culvert goes in.
On Seal Point Road, a couple of cross culverts will be replaced, improving
drainage, especially near the Sugarbush drive area. Water backed up
last winter and froze, causing quite a bit of erosion to that part of
the road. Several potholes along the road will be patched as well.
Trash Disposal Increases
(Lamoine) — A harsh reality in municipal government is that more
residents equals more trash. As the town’s state valuation rose
about 9-percent, so did the trash disposal. Through September of 2004,
residents had thrown out 582 tons of solid waste which was transported
to the PERC trash to energy plant in Orrington. That’s an increase
of 50-tons, or 9.11% from 2003.
The amount of trash thrown out for the entire 2003 calendar year was
732 tons, which represented an increase of 13-percent from the previous
year!
Residents are encouraged to recycle more. An extra dumpster for recycled
cardboard was added to the transfer station in the past year. A flyer
is posted on-line with recycling info.
School Building On State Study List
(Lamoine) — State officials will visit the Lamoine School sometime
before January to see how the town fares in comparison, and whether
the state will pay for school renovations. In a letter received September
3rd, Scott Brown of the Department of Education said 63 other applications
came in for the 2003/04 rating cycle. It’s expected that only
a handful of schools will qualify for the limited amount of school construction/renovation
money available.
During the mid 1990’s, Lamoine was ranked at the top of the priority
list. Voters, though, rejected a renovation project that included sizable
state funding.
