Municipalities and People in the News

[updated every Friday by Dirigo News Service]
updated 8/15/08

News

Auburn: A consultant has recommended the city conduct property assessing for both Auburn and Lewiston as one way the Twin Cities can merge efforts and improve efficiency. A study is ongoing by an ad-hoc committee.

Blue Hill: The National Geographic Adventure magazine has named this quaint coastal town as one of the “50 next great” communities in America. The town was recognized for its emphasis on the outdoors and on preserving prime land for the public. Blue Hill was one of only four New England municipalities to make the list, which also includes Boston.         

Brewer: As expected, the city council this week passed a 180-day moratorium on establishment of a methadone clinic. The city will use the six months to study its land use code and decide whether to propose restrictions on meth clinics, such as where they can be located.

Clinton: Special town meeting voters rejected for a second time Tuesday an operating budget for the town’s police department. Town Manager James Rhodes said the department can operate on last year’s budget for one year before having to be abolished. Selectmen are likely to bring the funding article back for another vote, possibly as part of the November 4 general election.

Farmington: The town is working with Franklin County to study whether to build a combined public safety facility to not only save each government money, but also improve public service.
Freeport: Town officials estimate it will cost $400,000 to repair just one major roadway washed out because of last week’s downpours. Other communities, such as Biddeford, were forced to deal with flash flooding and overworked storm drains.

Lewiston: The city council is considering a 6-month moratorium on development in certain areas of the downtown to give officials time to study the different uses already permitted and how they might be changed for the future.

Newport: A town resident has been charged with illegally cutting down town-owned trees for firewood. The man may also be charged for felling trees in a wetland. He will be arraigned in September.

Paris: Selectmen will appeal a recent court decision that designates a 200-year-old dead-end road as a town way. The town has argued the road has been impassable for about three decades and therefore qualifies as abandoned.

Portland: A Jewish rabbi has appealed a decision by the city council that prohibits him from conducting worship services in his home. The rabbi argues he has held small services in his residential neighborhood for 20 years; the city says the house is not zoned for church services and has asked Rabbi Moshe Wilansky to stop holding them. The city’s zoning appeals board will take up the matter on August 21. The Maine Civil Liberties Union is supporting the Wilansky.

People

Al Atkinson has resigned from the Paris Planning Board in protest over selectmen’s recent decision not to reappoint a developer as an alternate board member.

Kittery Town Councilor Jeffrey Brake will seek re-election in November, while incumbent Judith Spiller, lamenting long hours and slow progress toward change, said she is undecided about whether to seek another term.

Durham selectmen have named Warren Hatch as the town’s new administrative assistant. Hatch has worked as AA for Bowdoinham selectmen for the past four years, as well as previously spending eight years in Damariscotta and two more in Phippsburg. Hatch was selected from a pool of 40 applicants.

Sanford police majors Gordon Littlefield and Craig Sanford have new titles as deputy chiefs to reflect their existing roles in the department. Neither man’s job responsibilities will change, nor will their salaries.

Richard Pickett has agreed to return to his job as Dixfield police chief, accepting an unpaid 4-week suspension, retroactive to July 1, when selectmen failed to renew his contract on grounds of alleged insubordination during the spring annual town meeting. Pickett, a longtime chief for the town, said he was grateful for the community’s support during the dispute. Selectmen had voted August 4 to reinstate Pickett, but he wanted some time to consider the offer.

Millinocket Town Councilor and business owner Matthew Polstein will not seek re-election in November after serving three straight 3-year terms. Polstein said he wants to focus his attention on his firm’s $65 million so-called “ecotourist” resort, located just beyond the town line, where he planned to live before a fourth term, if elected, would have expired.

Veteran Mexico Fire Chief Gary Wentzell has agreed to take over both the Rumford and Mexico fire departments on a 6-month trial basis. The sharing agreement is limited to administrative duties and not a consolidation of the two western Maine departments. Wentzell replaces former
Rumford Fire Chief John Woulfe, who resigned earlier this year to take a federal job in Washington, D.C. The agreement has strong support from both boards of selectmen.

Waldoboro selectmen this week named Patrick Wright as the town’s new planning and development director. Wright is known to town officials because he recently completed an 18-month State Planning Office study on the effectiveness of local comprehensive plans. The study looked at 14 coastal communities, including Waldoboro