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.
Late addition staff cuts surprise high level RSU 20 staff, police chief
BELFAST - The 2013-14 budget approved by the Regional School Unit 20 board of directors on this Tuesday seemingly left little for anyone to be happy about — $1.7 million in cuts to the budget drew cries of too much from residents concerned about the effect on education, and too little from those concerned about taxes, which are expected to increase despite the cuts.
The no-win situation wasn't helped by an additional wave of anxiety that rippled through the district this week when it… Read more
Oceanside East plants an orchard; Medomak Valley builds oven, plants a pizza garden
It was a busy weekend for Genna Cherichello, Food Corps service member with the University of Maine Cooperative Extension. On April 26, she helped Oceanside East’s High School Foundations Program plant an orchard beside the garden and near the school. The next day, she was at Medomak Valley High School, in Waldoboro, helping the horticulture, life skills and ceramics classes build an earth oven and pizza garden with a host of community partners.
“Trees are a way to teach patience and… Read more
Free Range Musical Festival in full swing
BELFAST - The streets of Belfast are flooded with people looking to get their music fix... of every type. The fourth annual celebration of Belfast's Free Range Music Festival is currently ongoing and we caught some of the acts earlier today. Just to give a sample of the diversity (not to mention the high quality acts) this Festival offers, check out our two-minute clips on Clio & Chloe, The Hips and Pete Witham & The Cozmik Zombies.
Clio & Chloe are 17 and… Read more
Belfast drops grant applications for lauded business expansions
BELFAST — Expansions by two Belfast businesses that were heralded earlier this year and given city-sponsorship for grant applications totalling over a half-million dollars have been taken off the table at the request of the businesses, according to Belfast Economic Development Director Thomas Kittredge.
The City Council in January authorized three applications to the state-administered Community Development Block Grant program totaling $900,000.
Two of these were under the… Read more
Humans in your town
BELFAST - Last Thursday, Alexandra Chapin took her dog to the beach. She also took her camera in hopes of collecting portraits for her Facebook page Humans of Belfast.
Chapin started the project in the second week of April and has been adding around five photos a day. The images are usually of individual people, often posing, but there are also snapshots, group pictures and the… Read more
On the Belfast waterfront, a stage set for Harbor Walk and more
BELFAST- The waterfront was quiet on Sunday, but from Steamboat Landing to the Footbridge, evidence of the coming Belfast Harbor Walk was everywhere. The $1.5 million pedestrian and bicycle promenade has been a work in progress for several years, but until last week when workers broke ground at Steamboat landing, it had existed only on paper.
City officials anticipate the majority of the basic walkway will be completed by the end of June, with amenities like lights, benches and… Read more
Work begins on Belfast Harbor Walk
BELFAST - Workers from Maine Earth, of Hampden, were busy laying down a double row of tall screening shrubs between Belfast Common and Steamboat Landing Monday in the first substantial work on the Belfast Harbor Walk project.
The estimated $1.5 million pedestrian and bicycle promenade is to span roughly two-thirds of a mile from Steamboat Landing at its southern end to the Armistice footbridge. Portions of… Read more
Camden's stone castle to reopen Memorial Day
CAMDEN — A Midcoast landmark, the Norumbega Inn at 63 High Street in Camden, welcomed new owners Sue Walser and Philip Crispo, who now have the daunting task of getting the building in working order for Memorial Day weekend.
Penobscot Bay Pilot stopped and spoke to the couple amid roofers, boxes, and plumbing issues. They seemed quite calm and taking it all in stride.
“It’s the rebirth of a castle, and there’s a lot of work to be done," said Sue. "Phil and I want people… Read more
Planning board closes book on Searsport LPG tank
SEARSPORT - The Planning Board finished deliberations Thursday night on a proposed liquefied petroleum gas (propane) storage and distribution facility, ruling that the application by Denver, Colo.-based DCP Midstream did not comply with the town's land use ordinance and failed to meet established performance standards.
A third vote found that the application complied with shoreland zoning rules, but in sum, the application was rejected.
… Read moreDucktrap plans major expansion of Belfast facility
BELFAST - Ducktrap River of Maine on Tuesday announced plans for a major expansion that would increase the size of its seafood smoking and processing facility by neary 50 percent, double the current processing capacity, and support the addition of 40 to 50 new jobs.
According to General Manager Don Cynewski, the expansion is necessary to keep up with sales, which he said have doubled over the last four years. Ducktrap's Norweigan parent company, Marine Harvest, is underwriting the… Read more
Developer says will withdraw Searsport tank application
SEARSPORT - The developer behind a controversial proposal to build a liquefield petroleum gas (LPG, or propane) terminal in Searsport has announced plans to withdraw its application from the town.
Denver Colorado-based DCP Midstream hoped to build a bulk storage and distribution import facility for LPG near Mack Point cargo port. Plans included a 22.7 million gallon storage tank that would have been among the largest on the East Coast.
… Read moreMOFGA seeks tax exemption on Unity, Thorndike properties
THORNDIKE and UNITY - The Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association is seeking exemption from property taxes on the roughly 400 acres in two Western Waldo County towns where the organization has its headquarters. MOFGA filed for property tax exempt status in Thorndike and Unity in 2012. According to officials in both towns the applications are still under consideration.
Heather Spalding, Interim Executive Director of MOFGA, likened the move to an administrative formality. The… Read more
The country doctor's progress
BELFAST - Early in his book What Matters in Medicine: Lessons from a Life in Primary Care, David Loxterkamp says that for as long as he could remember he wanted to be a doctor like his father Edward Otto Loxterkamp. It’s a claim that would sound glib if not for the striking similarities between their lives and the generational parallels within the profession they both chose.
His book chronicles… Read more
Frankfort votes to join RSU 22
FRANKFORT - Voters on Thursday approved a measure to join Regional School Unit 22 by a margin of 181 to 59.
The vote was the last for Frankfort in a process that has stretched over several years, as residents have sought to leave the consolidated RSU 20 to join the neighboring district to the north.
On April 9, voters in the RSU 22 towns of Hampden, Newburgh and Winterport will hold referendums on a reorganization plan that would include accepting Frankfort into the district.… Read more
Searsport LPG terminal misses first hurdle in planning board review
SEARSPORT - Jamie Kilbreth, attorney for DCP Midstream, was brief in his closing remarks to the planning board Wednesday night. The answers to many of the big questions about the propane terminal proposed by his client, he said, had been covered in reviews by state and federal agencies. Virtually everything else, he said, was spelled out in the town's ordinance for industrial zones.
"A bulk fuel distribution facility up to 150 feet high is a permitted use. Legally, that is the end of… Read more
Ask grandma about the sugar in the baby carriage
BELFAST - What was life like during World War II, and how was it different than life during today's wars?
That was the big question posed to fifth graders from the Extended Learning program at three RSU 20 elementary schools. Starting last fall, they read five books set against the backdrop of the war, then interviewed community members who recalled the war years. In documenting what they learned, the students were asked to compare the sacrifices made during World War II to those being… Read more
Deliberations set to begin on Searsport LPG terminal
SEARSPORT - After nearly two years of debate culminating in a string of sometimes-heated public hearings, the Searsport Planning Board is scheduled to begin deliberations this Wednesday, March 27, on an application from Colorado-based DCP Midstream to build a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG, or propane) terminal at Mack Point.Import-export question flares up on eve of Searsport LPG deliberations
The meetings will be open to the… Read more
Import-export question flares up on eve of Searsport LPG deliberations
SEARSPORT - After nearly two years of debate culminating in a string of sometimes-heated public hearings, the Planning Board is scheduled to begin deliberations next week on an application from Colorado-based DCP Midstream to build a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG, or propane) terminal at Mack Point.
The "tank," as the terminal is sometimes referred to after its largest feature a 22.7-million-gallon storage tank, has generated a… Read more
Thorndike woman in critical condition after colliding with tractor trailer
PORTLAND - A Thorndike woman remains in critical condition after her SUV collided with a tractor trailer on the Unity Road in Benton Tuesday afternoon, according to a release from Maine Department of Public Safety.
Troopers said 65 year old Jeannine Ann lost control of her 2003 Ford Explorer on the snow covered road and it slid into the other lane and was struck broadside by the tractor trailer.
The driver of the truck was Michael Hogan, 31, of Bangor, who was not injured. The… Read more
Belfast names new parks and recreation director
BELFAST - The City Council on Tuesday appointed Norman Poirier as the city's new Parks and Recreation Department director, filling a six-month vacancy and leaving city officials optimistic about the future of the department.
Poirier is currently director of parks, recreation and facilities for the town of Orono, a position he has held since 1989. He has a bachelor's degree in Health, Physical Education and Recreation from the University of Maine at Presque Isle and has a variety of… Read more
Q&A: Meg Fournier, Belfast Free Range Music Festival
BELFAST - Organizers of the Belfast Free Range Music Festival on Friday began releasing the names of acts to perform at this year's installment of the day-long, multi-venue festival (disclosure: the writer is one of them).
The event, which takes place on April 27… Read more
Get thee to town meeting!
WALDO COUNTY - Democracy is messy as the adage goes, and the kind practiced at annual town meetings around Maine is no exception. Some towns have become known for hot debates on a particular issue, while others make a safe bet any year for a squabble or a perennial feud inflamed (and yes, some sail through without much to talk about).
But even at their ugliest, town meetings don't have the political party struggles that bog down the democratic process at the state and federal levels.… Read more
Putting 'The Mighty Goose' back to work in Belfast
BELFAST - Nicholas Berner and Nicholas Cabral, third year students at Maine Maritime Academy, recently made one of many trips from Castine to their new office in Belfast, an unassuming building off Swan Lake Avenue next to an unassuming river once connected to mill that no longer exists.
Such are the landmarks in rural Maine.
Searsport fire station vote delayed by fire, Swanville still cold on social services
SEARSPORT - A vote Saturday on what was arguably the biggest item on the warrant at Searsport's annual town meeting — an allocation of up to $762,000 for a new North Searsport fire station — had to be rescheduled after town firefighters were called away to a fire.
Town Manager James Gillway said he and several others had spoken about the fire station appropriation and a related vote on the land for the new building when a call came in for a possible wood stove fire. The vote was pushed… Read more
Recount narrows Ares' margin in Searsport select board squeaker
SEARSPORT - Tallies from municipal elections held Tuesday showed Meredith Ares besting Travis Otis in a race for a vacant seat on the town's select board, but only by two votes. A recount held Thursday upheld the initial results but narrowed the margin of victory to a single vote. The final count: Ares 155, Otis 154.
The close contest was for a seat on the five-member board vacated by two-term selectman Roland LaReau, who did not seek re-election.… Read more
The barb of consolidation
BELFAST - Steve Hutchings, the Belfast Area High School Teacher who started the effort now underway in six towns of former School Administrative District 34 to back out of the consolidated Regional School Unit 20, recounted on Tuesday his first discussion with Maine Department of Education Deputy Commissioner Jim Rier.
Hutchings explained the plan, after which he said there was a long pause. When Rier spoke again, he was blunt. “Do you have any clue… Read more
Unity Raceway leased to Last Chance Motorsports
UNITY - Jere Humphey, owner of Last Chance Racing Supplies & Race Fuel announced he has signed a lease to operate Unity Raceway for the 2013 season.
In a statement on the raceway's website, Humphrey said Last Chance will run a… Read more
Ari Snider: Melting cheese at high altitude
I have experienced my fair share of predawn excursions over the course of my exchange. While living with my first host family, I fled Belgium under starry skies for Paris, England, and the sunny shores of the Mediterranean. Most Rotary exchange students in Belgium have three host families, and I moved in with my second at the beginning of January. Though living with a new family has changed my life in many ways, pulling myself out of bed at 4am, piling into their loaded van, and… Read more
Big, heavy and yellow happenings on the Belfast waterfront
BELFAST - One of the massive yellow and black things on the Belfast waterfront Thursday was a crane. But you've probably guessed that.
The others, according to James Harkins, project manager for Keeley Crane Service, are dock fenders built specifically for a nuclear submarine.
The fiberglass shells of the school bus-sized (and colored) bumpers were fabricated in Augusta by Kenway Corp. then brought to Belfast for assembly at Front Street Shipyard during the past month, Harkins… Read more
Stockton Springs Elementary to be converted to child development center
STOCKTON SPRINGS - The Regional School Unit 20 board of directors on Tuesday approved a plan that would relocate Stockton Springs Elementary School students to Searsport and open the school building to a new pre-K program run by Broadreach Family & Community Services.
The plan, which is the latest in an ongoing effort by the district to cut costs, would create a net savings of $190,800 according to finance committee chairman Gerald Reid. Reid said there would be some revenue from… Read more