Corwin R. Packard Revocable Trust Donation
The Corwin R. Packard Revocable Trust has donated $21,088.35 to the Highland Cemetery Trust through the Town of Poland; therefore, the donation will be presented to the Board of Selectmen for acceptance at the August 21, 2012 meeting. The Town will act simply as a fiscal agent to invest the funds in the cemetery’s trust account, and the Finance Director is prepared to invest the funds per the instructions of the Cemetery Committee.
PACE Loan Program
Efficiency Maine now lists the Town of Poland as a participating municipality in the PACE program, so residents may now apply for PACE energy improvement loans. Efficiency Maine will be sending brochures to the Town in the near future for distribution to residents about the low interest loan program.
Town Hall Water Line
I’m sure it has been obvious to anyone visiting the municipal complex this week that the Public Works Department and the Mechanic Falls Water District have been installing a water line for the Town Hall. This line will be used to supply high pressure water for the sprinkler system that is also currently being installed. The sprinkler system will not only help make the building safer for those using the facility, but by protecting the interior of the building in case of fire, it will help reduce insurance rates. The PW crew did a great job and did not encounter or break any underground utility lines. We feared that there were underground lines in unknown and undocumented locations that might cause problems, so we are very grateful that the crew’s careful work resulted in no breakages. We are also happy to save
money on contractor’s fees in this case by being able to have the Towns’ crews do the work. Thank you, Public Works and Mechanic Falls Water District!
Road Paving
Pike Industries plans to begin paving the scheduled roads in Poland possibly as early as Friday, August 17th. Unfortunately, Pike’s schedule has been slightly delayed by rain this week.
Water Hydrant on Ricker Road
A couple of days (or nights) ago, a truck struck a fire hydrant at a sharp bend on Ricker Road. The crash was a hit and run, so law enforcement officials were not sure who did it. This same hydrant was hit at least once before, and this time it disrupted water service to the Poland Spring Resort.
Tax Rate
John E. O’Donnell informed me that it will be impossible to have all the assessment information ready to establish the Town’s tax rate for FY13 in August, but they intend to have tax commitment documents prepared in time for the September 4, 2012 Board of Selectmen’s meeting.
Fire Rescue Station Project
The Fire Rescue Station Committee has been unable to reach a conclusion about a firm to hire for the project because many questions remain unanswered at this point. Therefore, the committee will meet with firms again the last week of August to seek additional clarifying information that will help it formulate a recommendation to the Board of Selectmen. The plan is to present a recommendation to the Board at its September 4th meeting.
Lower Range Pond Dam
It has come to staff’s attention that several people have expressed their displeasure with the Town’s new “No Trespassing” rule at the Lower Range Pond Dam and may express their concerns to the Town one way or another. It may be advisable to tread slowly on this issued in order to fully hear and consider positions of people who commonly use that facility for launching water craft, exercising on nature walks, etc.
AVCOG
I attended the AVCOG Executive Committee meeting this week, after which I asked Bob Thompson to prepare a report to the Board about services provided and to be provided to the Town of Poland. Mr. Thompson said he will work on a report for the Board. I also received the agenda packet for the Executive Committee meeting which includes AVCOG’s budget and work plan for the upcoming year, so that information is provided to Selectmen as a communication in this week’s agenda packet.
New England Management Institute
This year, municipal managers are asked to bring a product manufactured in their municipalities to our annual conference next week. The intent is to offer these products as door prizes to conference participants and give us all an opportunity to become more knowledgeable about the types of products made in Maine. Of course, my first thought was of Poland Spring Water, so I called the plant manager to request a bottle of water to bring to the Institute. To my extreme pleasure, he told me that they would be glad to donate ten cases of water! Not only will we be able to award some cases as door prizes, but we should be able to supply each participant with his/her own bottle of water. I am very grateful for this generosity and thank Nestle and the folks at the Poland Spring Bottling Company very much
for their wonderful contribution to our conference.
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