New Hi Tech Stuff @ Town Hall

(Lamoine) - Two new computers and a letter folder now grace the town hall. One of the computers replaces a unit that died in the Town Clerk's office due to a hard drive failure. The other computer was provided by the Secretary of State's office as part of the centralized voter registration system. Ironically the town received notification of the free computer's impending arrival shortly after ordering the replacement computer for the Clerk's office.

The voting computer will sit in the meeting room area for access during Election Day. That unit came with a scanner, a bar code reader and label printer and will be hooked into the town's internal network. The monitor and printer have been installed in the Clerk's office. All towns in Maine received a new computer from the Secretary of State's Office as it moves to centralized voter registration.

The letter folding machine got its first run with the tax bills in September, greatly speeding up the process. A few bills came out wrinkled as staff worked out the bugs. It's estimated the machine cut the processing time by two thirds. It will come in handy with other mass mailings and has been offered to the school department and fire station for their large mailing projects.

Town Clerk Jennifer Kovacs finds the new Clerk's computer much more efficient than the unit that broke

The letter folder (above) greatly cut down the amount of time needed to fold tax bills.

New Mailbox May Grace Town Hall

(Lamoine) — Ellsworth Postmaster Bob Brydon has agreed to locate a secure, drive-up type mailbox in Lamoine soon. Selectmen asked that the post office consider the collection point after several constituents asked. They had expressed concern about mail theft from rural mailboxes.

In his reply to the town's request, Postmaster Brydon said he would prefer to use the town hall parking area as opposed to the Lamoine General Store because of traffic movement patterns. Town officials will work out a location in coming weeks.

Voters Approve Ambulance Funding

(Lamoine) - Voters at a special town meeting in July swiftly approved restoration of funds for the contract with County Ambulance. The town meeting might go down as the shortest in town history, lasting less than 10-minutes, which included the election and swearing-in of the moderator.

There were two favorable comments for the measure, a motion to end debate, and an overwhelming vote in favor. The contract costs the town about $9,000 this fiscal year. Funding was cut during the June referendum so the town could meet the constraints of LD-1. The funds for the new contract will come from town surplus.

Road Commissioner Named

(Lamoine) — Lamoine's new Road Commissioner is a familiar face. Code Enforcement Dennis Ford was appointed by the Selectmen following an advertisement for the job in early July. Former Road Commissioner Stu Marckoon asked to be relieved of the position because he was not able to devote enough time to the job in addition to his other positions with the town. No one other than Ford expressed interest in the Road Commissioner's job which pays $500 a year. Most of the work is clerical but involves some minor maintenance.

Town Revises Snow Plowing Contract

(Lamoine) — Selectmen approved changes to the snow plowing contract with Nankervis Trucking, covering the next two winters. Nankervis officials told Selectmen they, like many other contractors, have trouble obtaining a performance bond. Last year Selectmen agreed to delay payments until after the work was completed. The new contract puts that delay in writing and removes language in the breach of contract section referring to the performance bond. No difference in road plowing is expected this coming winter.

Eroded Roads Get Federal Help

(Lamoine) — Help from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for Lamoine pales in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The town will receive $7,672.86 for work done to bring three roads back to shape after heavy rains last spring caused severe shoulder erosion.

Richard King, Inc. completed work on Seal Point Road, Asa's Lane and Needles Eye Road to repair the damage. The bill was very near what FEMA had estimated the damage would be.

Hancock County was declared a disaster area after the heavy rains in April. A federal inspector looked at the damage and left his report before departing for New Orleans.

New Road Names Assigned

(Lamoine) — Four new road names received approval from Lamoine's Selectmen during the summer. Road Commissioner Dennis Ford will erect the signs in the next couple weeks.

Glen Mary Road will serve two homes on Shore Road along with a potential third house. The landowners had grown up on Glen Mary Road in Bar Harbor, thus the new name.

Tilden Way is the name of the new road serving the subdivision being constructed on Shore Road by Duane Crawford & Julie Tilden.

Alanna Lane becomes the first name (alphabetically) on Lamoine's Road Name list. It will serve the new subdivision on Douglas Highway in North Lamoine now owned by Roger Bachelder. He suggested the name as that is his young daughter's name.

Misty Lane is the final new road name. It serves the Marlboro Mist II subdivision off Partridge Cove Road. Owner Steve Joy suggested the name to the Selectmen. The new road names bring Lamoine to 111 names roads.

You can't get there from here!

Mud Creek Road was closed for three days in September while MDOT contractors replaced a large cement culvert near Eagle Point Rd.