Maine Municipal Association Executive Director Stephen Gove reports that MMA will award grants to four municipalities who hire summer interns in 2019. He explains the process, including how to apply, in this article. The grants are part of MMA’s Hometown Careers initiative, which was launched last year to help towns and cities recruit people to work in municipal government.

The 2019 LD 1 Municipal Tax Levy Worksheet is out. The state Office of Policy and Management has set the personal income growth factor at 2.77 percent. There are instructions for both municipalities that use a normal calendar year to set their budgets and for towns and cities that start their fiscal years each July 1.

The Maine Department of Environmental Protection will hold a workshop about storm water rules and regulations on March 14 at the DEP’s Portland office on Canco Road. The question and answer format will explore site law, storm water rules and permitting processes.

About $90,000 in grant money is available statewide through the state Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry’s Project Canopy program. Typical grants range in size from $6,000 to $8,000 and require a 50 percent community match. The deadline to apply is April 12, 2019.

Maine municipalities are invited to pick a local person, project or group to receive a 2019 Spirit of America Foundation Tribute for outstanding community service, and to honor the recipient at your annual town meeting or during National Volunteer Month in April.  There is no fee, and over 160 Maine municipalities chose a Spirit of America award winner this past year.  For more info, visit website www.spiroaft.com/gems and the “Contact Us” page on that site.

Municipalities with town meetings should know that the new senior tax lien foreclosure law may require a “patch” for the warrant article that many towns use to authorize the sale of tax-acquired properties. Maine Municipal Association’s Legal Services Department has issued written guidance to help our members with this process.

Maine Municipal Association is seeking candidates to serve as a participating member on our Property & Casualty Board of Directors. A vacancy was created with the recent retirement announcement by Thomas Goulette, town manager in Guilford. With his planned retirement, Goulette is also stepping down from the P&C board.

Each year, the Maine Municipal Association publishes a “Year in Review” document, which outlines our achievements, challenges and responses from the preceding year, and explores ways that we will address upcoming opportunities and concerns. The publication is mailed to members and is made available throughout the year in a variety of ways.

The Maine Revives Civility project has scheduled three “listening sessions,” which are designed to engage citizens and community leaders in how to develop productive governing dialogue. The sessions will be held, on Feb. 26-27, in: Dover-Foxcroft, Bangor and Ellsworth.

Maine Municipal Association will hold, support and organize 90 training events throughout the state in 2019, including new offerings on Civic Engagement, Workplace Safety, Regulating Short-Term Vacation Rentals – and more. The entire 2019 training calendar is out, a combination of MMA events and those sponsored by professional affiliate groups with which we work. The training sites span the state, from Fort Kent to Saco.