Bremen Select Board members Tom Papell and John Boe Marsh honor longtime annual town meeting moderator Don Means and outgoing board member Wendy Pieh on Saturday, June 13. The meeting was the last for Means and Pieh in their respective roles. From left: Tom Papell, Wendy Pieh, Don Means, and John Boe Marsh. (Emily Bracher photo)
Bremen residents were cooled off by a breeze at the two-hour annual town meeting held in Bremen’s fire station on Saturday, June 13.
Residents gathered to approve the municipal budget for the upcoming year, with amendments. The newly approved budget totals $1,829,874.46, an increase of $20,194.46 or 1.12%. The total includes the Lincoln County tax, totaling $395,935.
A major topic of conversation was the budget for the Bremen Broadband Committee, which originally requested $10,000, an increase of $5,000 or 100%. Both the budget committee and select board recommended a lower amount of $7,500, which was eventually the number approved.
Before the decision, a motion was made to accept the broadband committee’s budget from last year, totaling $5,000. Some in attendance voiced their opinion that the committee did not need any more money.
Broadband committee Chair Henry Goldberg said the $10,000 was just the initial request and the group is fine with the $7,500. But, he added, the committee “certainly opposes” the reduction to $5,000.
Goldberg said the committee’s purpose is to find adequate access to broadband internet for the town. Currently, the only internet provider in Bremen is Tidewater Telecom. He said because the company does not have competition, it is able to keep its prices “high.”
Tidewater charges $90 for its services while most other providers in the state charge in the $30-$50 range, Goldberg said.
Over the past year, he said the committee has been working on negotiating lower prices with Tidewater, which was turned down. The second option, which is reflected in the increased budget, would be to try and get a competing internet provider to come to town.
The committee has proposed a pilot program with Starlink, which is owned by SpaceX, for a $50/month service for individual customers. Goldberg said the proposal focused on Tidewater’s existing DSL customers, offering five of them the ability to get service in the pilot program. He said it would not exceed $3,500 of the committee’s budget.
“We’re often interested in saving money, not only saving money for the town, but ultimately saving money for Bremen residents,” Goldberg said. “But the town can use its ability to bring down the charges for broadband internet.”
Goldberg said Bremen residents could save over $40 million combined if the price of internet was reduced to $50 a month.
Select board member John “Boe” Marsh said the work the broadband committee has been doing has been under the radar, so many might not understand the bigger picture.
“The big picture is that this committee has done amazing things,” Marsh said.
There is a lot of room to grow in Bremen in regard to getting ideal internet service, Marsh said. He mentioned a recent shout-out from Gov. Janet Mills regarding Bremen being the town of pioneers regarding digital equity and making sure everyone in the town had reliable internet.
Marsh said so many rely on internet, whether that is a student in school or a disabled neighbor who uses telehealth. The target group for the pilot project is those who might not be able to afford internet and see if a new service will make it more accessible.
“All boats rise on high tide,” Marsh said. “I know the road is not clear on how we’re going to do this, but we have five or size of the most unbelievable dedicated people, and pretty darn brilliant.”
Some residents questioned how the five people were going to be chosen, as well as what would happen in a year’s time after the trial. Goldberg said the committee is still working those decisions out and that a major part of this proposal is also to send a message to Tidewater the town is not afraid to find competition.
Other residents were worried about prioritizing “sending a message” over helping those in need of broadband. Goldberg said the town took $25,000 of federal funds to subsidize people in need of money for internet.
The fire truck reserve garnered plenty of conversation. The select board explained there was now enough money in the fund to order a truck. Article 20 asked if the town will authorize the select board to transfer $50,000 from unexpended funds to the reserve. As of June 2025, there was $350,000 in the account.
Currently, the fire department has been looking at offers that range from $550,000 to $600,000, according to Bremen Fire Chief Eric Teele. Residents pointed out the total is more than what is in the reserve.
Teele said the upfront costs are around $140,000. The build time for the truck is two years, which Teele said is enough time to continue to build the fund for the total.
Teele said in the meantime, he is confident the truck is still serviceable.
“Our fire truck is still good,” select board member Tom Papell said. “We take exceptional care and maintenance of our trucks.”
In a conversation before the meeting, Papell said the truck is overdue for replacement. The National Fire Protection Association recommends a 15-year lifespan for frontline trucks, followed by retirement after 25 years.
“Local volunteer departments generally can’t meet those suggestions because of fiscal constraints,” Papell said. “We keep up rigorous checking and maintenance to keep trucks in service as long as safely possible.”
The article was passed.
The Central Lincoln County Ambulance Service request of $61,374.46 was approved.
Dr. Peter Goth, who represents the town on the ambulance service’s board, brought up the June 11 editorial published by The Lincoln County News regarding transparency issues as the board discusses a possible buyback program for employees.
“The Lincoln County News has some good points, absolutely has some good points. This has to be more transparent, and to that end, what we’ve been looking at is how to get information out to people,” Goth said.
On the topic of fire and rescue, resident Martha Frink asked if the town will be getting a Smokey Bear sign at the fire station. She said the sign would clearly indicate where the station is and also give the community updates on fire risk.
The board said the sign was approved during a regular meeting and it just has not been ordered yet.
The $20,000 requested by the Bremen Library also started conversation. Both the select board and budget committee recommended $15,000.
Sharon Marchi, president of the library’s board of directors, said the funds for the library can be broken down into three categories. The first is operational costs, the second is building maintenance, and the third is community service projects.
Over the past few years, the library has been completing maintenance projects to address the aging building. Marchi said the board has been using an endowment for these repairs. Even with the endowment, she said the cost of maintenance continues to rise.
Currently, the library is in need of heating and electrical repairs, as well as new paint to the outside, she said.
In regard to community outreach, grants have funded projects such as the platform used for concerts and the evolving the outside area. However, Marchi said, grants cannot fund the library’s operating expenses.
The money that comes from the town helps pay for salary, books, electricity, and snowplowing, as well as keeping the library free to Bremen residents.
“That is why the contribution of the town is so important for keeping the doors of the library open,” Marchi said.
A motion was made to amend the total to the select board recommendation because many residents believed the library already had the funds to take care of these issues.
Frink, who volunteers at the library, said she couldn’t imagine how the town would function if a quarter of its budget was removed and that she would like others to have that mindset for the library.
“If you want to have a building that you can’t go in and get a book because they had to reduce the librarian’s hours, or you can’t go in and use the free internet, or you can’t go in and make copies of your tax returns, or you can’t go in and socialize with other young mothers, or you can’t go to senior college, or you can’t go just on a rainy day and see if there’s something you might like to read, or a movie you like to take out,” Frink said. “It’s the only thing we really have in this town.”
Michael Leonard, treasurer of the library board, said there is currently $275,000 in the endowment that has appreciated over the past few decades since its creation. When asked if it could only be used for maintenance, he said it’s not restricted but intended.
Christa Thorpe, who represents Bremen on the RSU 48 Board of Directors, said the intent of the endowment was to make the library a resource the community could have forever.
Marsh said he agrees the library is a wonderful place and the select board’s recommendation was what it thought was appropriate. He said when evaluating how to keep taxes low but also support the library and other town assets the best it could, the board had to make some tough decisions.
“We have limited funds here to keep us fiscally healthy,” Marsh said.
After some more discussion, residents voted down the amendment and passed the $20,000 request.
The $21,241 charitable contributions budget generated conversation. Within this cost center, Central Lincoln County YMCA requested $7,500. The select board and budget committee both recommended $3,500.
Veggies to Table, a grow-to-donate, was added to the budget because Papell said the board was very impressed by the organization’s efforts, with a recommended budget of $1,000.
The town eventually approved the select board’s recommendation of $3,500, making the total budget $17,241. Before this, one resident recommended an amendment to reduce the total budget to last year’s total of $10,342. This was quickly voted down, many voicing their concern it would negatively impact the Waldoboro Food Pantry.
A motion was made to vote on Article 37 by line item but was turned down by voters. The articles are for unexpended funds to be transferred to different accounts. Most conversation surrounding the article dealt with the $25,000 tagged for baseball field improvements.
Town Clerk Melanie Pendleton said the town has a private donor who said they will match whatever funds are put up to repurpose the field. The goal is to add fencing, dugouts, a backstop to get the field functional enough to host little league games, Pendleton said.
All other articles were passed, some with clarification questions.
At the end of the meeting, a special farewell address was made longtime select board member Wendy Pieh as well as moderator Don Means. Pieh has been on the Bremen Select Board since 2004, serving the town for over two decades.
“I will tell you that being a selectman in this town is a real gift because people listen and people participate, and that has been really wonderful for me, and I felt very close to the whole community,” Pieh said.
Pieh was gifted flowers and Means was given a card signed from town officials. Marsh said he feels so fortunate to be a colleague of Pieh, as well as a friend.
The town will be hosting a retirement party for Pieh from 1-4 p.m. on Sunday, June 28 at the Bremen Town House, at 564 Waldoboro Road.
For more information, call 529-5945 or go to bremenmaine.org.
