Nov. 5, 2013 Elections: Municipal and state referendums, ordinance changes, candidates
Voters go to the polls Nov. 5 to consider five statewide ballot questions, and various individual municipal warrant articles. Following are election previews and recent issue stories for Knox and Waldo counties, as well as a rundown of the bond issues voters across the state are being asked to decide.
View a list of polling places and town contacts here: Knox County, Waldo County
As polls close election night, results will be posted on PenBayPilot.com as they are reported for Knox and Waldo counties. Stay tuned.
Stockton Springs keeps its police department
STOCKTON SPRINGS – Residents at the annual town meeting Saturday voted 82-19 to keep their police department. The decision went against the recommendation of the town's budget committee, which had proposed eliminating the force in response to a loss of state revenue sharing.
The department, composed of three Waldo County Sheriff's Office deputies and a department supervisor working a rotating 40-hour-per-week schedule, typically costs the town $35,000 - $40,000 according to Town… Read more
Ari Snider: Life in the Jungle
I have had two pets in my lifetime. The first was a rare African frog that arrived in the mail, a surprise present from my grandparents. The second was a red-backed salamander (that I christened "Salamandy" if I recall correctly) that I had found under a log in my friend's backyard. Salamandy passed on long ago. We gave Sanchez the frog to a friend, after finding him resiliently alive after nearly 8 years.
It was not until I moved in with my third… Read more
After rejection at the polls, RSU 20 budget revisions are coming, but not yet
BELFAST – The Regional School Unit 20 Board of Directors met on Thursday for the first time since the district's 2013-14 budget was rejected by voters in all of its eight municipalities. Several members of the public addressed the board with their opinions about the budget and at least one director brought up the topic, but there was no discussion by the board.
Chairman Anthony Bagley stopped the conversation noting that the budget revisions would have to follow the same steps as the… Read more
Supermajority in Belfast-led withdrawal referendum may trump voter turnout clause
BELFAST — A bid by six towns to withdraw from Regional School Unit 20 failed in Tuesday's referendum on a technicality requiring a minimum voter turnout. But it may not be off the table for two years as supporters initially believed.
Voters in Belfast, Belmont, Morrill, Northport, Searsmont and Swanville cast their ballots June 11 on a plan to collectively withdraw from the school district. If successful, the vote would have been the first step in a plan supporters hoped would… Read more
Low voter turnout kills RSU 20 withdrawal bid
BELFAST - An ambitious bid by six Waldo County towns to secede from Regional School Unit 20 was approved by an overwheming majority of voters in a June 11 referendum. The vote won't count, however, because numbers for overall turnout in most towns failed to meet the statutory minimum.
Voters also rejected the proposed 2013-14 budget for RSU 20 by a wide margin all eight towns.
The total number of voters for the withdrawal to be valid needed to be equal to or more than 50-percent… Read more
Genealogists take note: Belfast's Grove Cemetery records now online
BELFAST - Steve Boguen recently finished digitizing the roughly 8,000 handwritten burial records of Grove Cemetery where he has served as superintendent for 34 years. He started the indexing project 10 years ago. So when he appeared before the City Council last week, it seemed like an announcement might be forthcoming. Instead, Boguen asked the Council to stop the rising incidences of… Read more
Vote on your school budget, Tuesday!
MIDCOAST - School budgets don't typically bring voters to the polls in droves, but deep cuts coupled with tax increases in many districts may make this year an exception to the rule.
On Tuesday, June 11, voters will be asked to approve or reject their local school district's bottom line in validation referendums around the state.
They will also be asked if they want to vote by referendum on future budgets or have the public budget meeting, in which the 11 cost centers are… Read more
Ari Snider: The French paradox
NORMANDY, France – Belgium has a complicated relationship with France. On one hand, France offers sunny beaches, snow-capped mountains, picturesque countrysides, and vibrant cities to visit, while at the same time supporting the cultural foundation of the Francophone world. However, most Walloons find the French insufferably haughty. Fortunately, the inn that we had booked for a long-weekend in Normandy was owned by a Belgian couple.
One Man's Trash...
BELFAST – I can feel the paint creeping in between my toes. It’s cold and wet and borderline uncomfortable, but I know if I move I will mess up the shot. It’s crawling over my big toe now, but my camera and I remain focused while Eric splashes, drips and spreads paint all over his canvas.
In Eric Leppanen’s basement, paint in between your toes is just a hazard of the job. The local artist seems to pride himself on his paint splattered domain, his multicolored shoes, and his acrylic… Read more
Dogs wear out welcome at Belfast cemetery
BELFAST – The shaded lanes of Grove Cemetery have long invited visitors looking for peaceful place to walk, but according to cemetery superintendent Steve Boguen, an increasing number have brought their dogs along, which has led to complaints from citizens with loved ones buried there.
Speaking to the City Council on Tuesday night, Boguen mostly left the details of the “issue with dogs” to his audience's… Read more
In Rockland, a good day on the field of honor
ROCKLAND — On Saturday, June 1, the Society for Creative Anachronism’s Shire of Hadchester held a Renaissance Festival in Harbor Park in Rockland. Lords and ladies, squires, surfs and vassals alike all bade thee welcome to view demonstrations of cooking, leather craft, sewing and swordsmanship in a day-long celebration of work, play and socializing.
If you live in Appleton, Camden, Damariscotta, Islesboro, Jefferson, Monhegan, North Haven, Rockport, Rockland, Thomaston, Vinalhaven,… Read more
Proposed staff cuts mostly restored at RSU 20 public budget meeting
BELFAST - Voters from the eight towns of Regional School Unit 20 on Thursday added almost $1 million back into the district's proposed 2013-14 budget in an attempt to restore staff positions and program funding the school board had slated for elimination.
Without the amendments, the draft budget — a lose-lose compromise drawn up in response to dwindling state aid and the loss of Frankfort from the district — would not have negated a tax increase. The bottom line approved on Wednesday… Read more
Belfast's Game Loft goes mobile
THORNDIKE - Imaginary pets and fantasy warfare aren't explicitly addressed in the rules of Regional School Unit 3, and role playing probably falls under the broad category of “acting out.” But since last fall students at The Mount View School in Thorndike, have been encouraged to eviscerate trolls and trade legendary beasts with impunity — and diplomatic immunity — under the umbrella of a weekly program hosted by the Belfast-based Game Loft.… Read more
On Memorial Day: Remember, respect and honor
ROCKLAND - Today is Memorial Day and though it will be a chilly one, the sun will shine and allow the many parades and ceremonies to take place. My Memorial Day began yesterday with a breakfast at the American Legion Post 1 in Rockland. There I spoke to veterans, and visited the memorial. The land Winslow Holbrook, Merritt American Legion Post 1 sits on was at one time the post for the Fourth Maine Regiment during the Civil War. The original flag holder that the regiment used is still in… Read more
Warning: The Seuss is Loose
CAMDEN — Rockport Dance Conservatory will present its sixth spring showcase this evening, May 24 and 25 atthe Camden Opera House. Director Kari Cameron and assistant director Sally Leighton have strived to combine creativity with RDC’s dance styles. According to Cameron and Leighton the have held passionately to their original mission to inspire your imagination and help you to discover the joy of dance. RDC is a registered 501C-3 non-profit organization.
Cameron said she got the… Read more
Fishing for the halibut
ROCKPORT — Ken Dodge, of Rockport, is no stranger to early mornings. He lobsters out of Rockport Harbor, but Thursday he was getting ready to go out for halibut on his boat the Becca & Meagan. Halibut started running May 1. The season for fishermen is from May 1 to June 30.
“Sometimes we get one, sometimes we get two and sometimes, we don’t get anything,” he said. “We don’t really like to say how many we catch. The fish has to be 41 inches to be legal and we have a stick… Read more
Rockland’s Bartlett Woods celebrates new expansion
ROCKLAND — Bartlett Woods Retirement Community hosted an open house Saturday, May 19, inviting the public to see recent changes. The open house was to showcase 24 new apartments in a wing that is now part of the main building. Other new features included a game room, media room, conference room and renovations to the dining area. The new wing represents a major… Read more
Pilots and tugs: the quiet guides of Penobscot Bay
BELFAST - Some time back, Captain John Worth overheard a woman who was touring her visiting friend along the waterfront. Worth had just returned from a night of work on one of the tug boats of the Penobscot Bay Tractor Tug Co. when the woman said, “These are our tug boats. They don’t ever go anywhere, but here they are.”
Worth recounted the story with mock exasperation from the pilot's seat one of those… Read more
Welcome back to Belfast, snowbats!
BELFAST - If summer residents of Belfast share one thing aside from a love of their adoptive city, it might be a subscription to Down East Magazine. For those who don't, there was an article last December about City Councilor and tireless Belfast booster Mike Hurley's attempt to embrace a label used for years to deride Belfast's left-leaning, art-forward residents.
Criehaven resident requests county 9-1-1 service
ROCKLAND — A resident on the island of Criehaven — the one year-round resident — is asking Knox County Commissioners to provide 911 service to the offshore island, which lies 1.5 miles south of Matinicus Island at the farmost eastern reaches of Penobscot Bay.
The request for 911 service from a resident of Criehaven was made to the county for purposes of addressing for Internet service. Criehaven is an alternative name for Ragged Island, an unorganized territory in Knox County. The… Read more
RSU 20 board gets a stack of mail, in-person objections to proposed staff cuts
BELFAST - The Regional School Unit 20 board of directors on Tuesday heard objections from district teachers and staff members to the elimination of certain positions in the district's proposed 2013-14 budget.
The meeting was the first since the board approved $1.7 million in cuts in the coming year in an effort to make up for a drop in state assistance and pending legislation that could shift a portion of teacher retirement to local school districts.
Roughly $1 million of the… Read more
Rockland Council says no go on Winslow-Holbrook Park land sale
ROCKLAND — Lynn Archer, owner of the Brass Compass, a restaurant on property that abuts Rockland’s Winslow-Holbrook Park, stood before the City Council Monday evening, May 13, and asked to buy or lease from the city an eight-foot strip of land there. She referenced the recent request by another Rockland business owner to purchase four feet of land that also is part of the park, although on another side.
Last week, Robert Liberty, owner of the Trade Winds Motor Inn, asked to… Read more
Latest and largest Shipyard building gets Belfast public review
BELFAST - Plans and sketches for a proposed building at Front Street Shipyard that would be the business' largest to date have been in discussion for months, but on Thursday representatives used computer-based, three-dimensional renderings to show city officials what the building might look like on site.
"Building 6" as it is called, would be located on land currently the city-owned Front Street municipal parking lot and would be designed to work in tandem with a 485-ton mobile boat… Read more
Rockland's city budget embeds minor increase; no new PD vehicle, eliminates two positions
ROCKLAND — Rockland's proposed 2014 municipal budget of $10,674,576 shows an increase of $3,498 over this year's budget with what it intends for gross municipal expenditures. The static budget also reduces dependence on the city's undesignated fund balance of $139,601 (that safety cushion that municipalities rely on), which means it can grow, and subsequently relieve the need to borrow from the bank with tax anticipation notes.
“This budget looked carefully at our service levels and… Read more
'Almost, Maine' set to open Thursday night at Strom Auditorium
ROCKPORT – Camden Hills Regional High School presents its spring Dinner Theatre production of John Cariani's Almost, Maine beginning May 9 through May 11. Almost, Maine is a series of love stories told through vignettes that take place in the mythical town of Almost, Maine, an unorganized township in northern Aroostook County.
"We just never got around to becoming a town, but we almost did, that's why we're Almost, Maine," Director Margaux DePue told Penobscot Bay… Read more
In Unity, former B&ML railroad equipment headed south
UNITY - On Wednesday afternoon, Tom Falicon of the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad watched as workers dismantled the old Belfast & Moosehead Lake Railroad turntable at Unity Station. Nearby a crane loaded passenger coaches onto flatbed rail cars bound for points south.
"We bought them a few years back and now we've come to collect them," he said, referring to a 2010 deal in which… Read more
Belfast rail trail likely to meet tourist train at City Point
BELFAST — The crossing of the former Belfast & Moosehead Lake Railroad at Oak Hill Road could become a outlying hub for city recreation and tourism, according to a picture painted at a meeting of the Belfast City Council, May 7.
A two-mile segment of the city-owned rail corridor is slated for conversion to a two-mile recreational trail starting at the old Upper Bridge and ending near the old City Point Station at the juncture of Oak Hill and Kaler roads. Brooks Preservation Society… Read more
Proposed RSU 3 budget includes staff cuts, aims for compromise
UNITY - In a story that has become familiar among Maine school districts this year, the proposed 2013-14 budget for Regional School Unit 3 includes a combination of deep cuts and a likely tax increase. The 11-town Western Waldo County district lowered its own costs this year but faced additional reductions in state aid.
In his budget message, school board chairman Phil Shibles said the district has been reining in its budget by more than a half-million dollars per year since 2008 — the… Read more
Trade Winds Motor Inn asks Rockland to sell small part of downtown park
ROCKLAND —Bob Liberty, owner of Trade Winds Motor Inn, is asking Rockland to sell him 221 square feet of land in order to be clear with the city about ownership of that small property that he originally thought he had purchased from Rockland in 2006.
The Rockland City Council discussed this May 6 at its agenda setting meeting at Rockland City Hall and agreed to put the matter on their May 13 meeting.
The discrepancy apparently results from the fact that at the time Liberty sold… Read more