American Legion member Joel Morley asks for the Edgecomb Select Board’s support for a project mounting banners on utility poles in town honoring local veterans. (Dylan Burmeister photo)
Edgecomb taxpayers will see a slight increase in their tax bill this year under the new mil rate the select board announced Tuesday, Aug. 8.
The board set the new mil rate at 16.70 at a special board meeting Friday, Aug. 4. The new rate is a 3.4% increase from the previous year. Under the new rate taxes on a $100,000 home total $1,670, an increase of $55 from 2023.
In other business, Board Chair Mike Smith announced the town has been served notice of new three claims filed by resident Timothy Harrington.
Harrington has been involved in an ongoing dispute with the town over the ownership of Old Town Road. Harrington and his neighbor Alan Whitman have disagreed over whether the road was public or private property.
Stress related to the legal action involving Harrington prompted the resignation of Dawn Murray, Edgecomb’s previous select board chair, in December 2022. A previous case from Harrington was dismissed in March because he did not attend a hearing.
“We have notified our attorney, and sent information forward to him, and we will wait for a response from our attorney,” said Smith. “Until then, we have nothing else to say about that.”
Also Tuesday, the board heard presentations from the American Legion and the Edgecomb Conservation Committee, and discussed the purchase of an automated external defibrillator for the town hall.
The meeting opened with a presentation from American Legion Post 36 members Jim Singer and Joel Morley, who asked the select board for help with their project of hanging banners to salute local veterans on telephone and power poles on Route 27.
Singer said the idea for the banners originated on a road trip he took through the Adirondack Mountains, when he saw posters celebrating veterans in small towns on the way.
“It just blew me away,” he said.
The banners will be hung from Memorial Day to Veterans Day for three years and will coincide with Edgecomb’s 250th anniversary next year.
Each banner will cost $125. The brackets needed to hang the banners cost around $60, but Morley and Singer said they hope donations will cover the cost of the brackets.
Any veteran who has served in the U.S. armed forces from WWII on is eligible to have a banner. The proposal has already been presented to the Boothbay, Boothbay Harbor, and Southport select boards, Singer said.
Morley and Singer asked the select board for permission to display the banners and for help installing the banners and finding a place to store them during the winter. They also discussed the possibility of having to pay fees to Central Maine Power Co. and the utility companies who own the poles.
Morley and Singer proposed that the select boards of Edgecomb, Boothbay, Boothbay Harbor, and Southport draft a letter asking for the fee to be canceled, which the Edgecomb Select Board agreed to.
“We can’t fight that battle without you folks behind us,” said Morley.
The Edgecomb Conservation Committee and the select board discussed the ongoing search for a waterfront property and the possibility of finding a location for a pickleball court in the town. The board did not take action at the meeting.
The select board also discussed the possibility of purchasing an automated external defibrillator for the town hall using American Rescue Plan Act funding.
“Over the years you hear about different government buildings that have those, in case somebody has an incident,” Smith said. “With the ARPA funding, it just seemed like a perfect opportunity to explore that.”
Board member Lynn Norgang said the device would cost $736.
“I don’t think it’s a lot of money to save a life,” she said.
Smith said a meeting will be held in September to discuss how to use the remaining funds.
In other business, the select board approved the nomination of Betsy Pratt to the position of animal control officer.
The Edgecomb Select Board will next meet at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 22 in the town hall.
