With a little more than a month to go before the annual town meeting, Edgecomb voters go to the polls Saturday, April 15 to redraw the town’s select board. Polls will be open at the Edgecomb town office on Town Hall Road from 1-7 p.m.
The unusual scheduling of the vote follows a combination of circumstances that prompted two select board members to step down.
Former board Chair Dawn Murray resigned her seat in December 2022 citing health concerns related to an ongoing legal dispute between a resident and the town. Veteran board member Ted Hugger tendered his resignation in January, announcing he had purchased a home in Damariscotta
and was moving out of town. Hugger’s resignation is effective April 15.
The departure of two of three Edgecomb Select Board members would leave board Chair Mike Smith as the town’s lone board member. Absent a quorum, the board would be unable to convene.
Former select person Frances C. Mague is unopposed in her bid to serve the remaining 35 days of Murray’s term, which expires at the conclusion of Edgecomb’s annual town meeting Saturday, May 20.
Two candidates, Craig Urwin and Lyndan “Lynn” C. Norgang, are running to fill Hugger’s soon-to-be vacated seat and serve the two years remaining in his term. Both Cross Point Road residents are seeking public office for the first time.
Lyndyn C. Norgang (Courtesy photo)
Lynn Norgang
Norgang said she had no plans to enter local politics; however, while pursuing a dog license for her pet in January, she was informed of the pending vacancies on the board and quickly took out nomination papers.
A registered nurse since 1973, Norgang spent the final 23 years of her professional career as the executive director and residential care administrator of The Lincoln Home, an assisted living facility in Newcastle.
In that capacity she oversaw an expansion of the home in the early 2000s and later helped establish the Harbor View Cottage Memory Care facility. She retired in the fall of 2020 and moved to Edgecomb that same year.
Norgang said she was always attracted to Edgecomb and very nearly settled there upon her arrival in the Midcoast from Baltimore in 1985.
“I really liked Edgecomb but we could not find a house that met our needs then,” Norgang said. The Norgang family initially settled in Damariscotta and moved to Edgecomb in 2014. Norgang and her husband Thomas celebrate 52 years of marriage this year.
Since filing nomination papers for this position in February, Norgan has attended select board meetings in order to familiarize herself with the challenges before the board.
“The costs involved in maintaining our natural resources, our school, our roads, meeting regulations and more are difficult and challenging,” Norgang said in a written statement. “It is important that all opinions, ideas, concerns, and suggestions are heard as valuable and important. Costs are on everyone’s mind and to date I have seen this to be a driving concern of the select board.”
She has also served on a number of boards and committees including boards for the Coastal Kids Preschool, and The Second Congregational Church in Newcastle. She was part of the first PTO for the Great Salt Bay Community School and she was a longtime member of The Lincoln Home Board of Directors in her capacity as the facility’s top administrator.
In retirement Norgang said she has enjoyed time to pursue her hobbies, which include cooking, rug hooking, quilting, and gardening. She is also an enthusiastic participant in Le Cafe Français, the French conversation group that meets weekly at the Edgecomb Community Church.
“If elected it will be a privilege to serve the people of Edgecomb and a joy to contribute to such a vibrant and beautiful place we all call home,” Norgang said.
Craig Urwin (Courtesy photo)
Craig Urwin
Urwin is a physician’s assistant currently employed at the Sheepscot Valley Health Center in Coopers Mills. He holds a bachelor’s degree in neuroscience from the University of Michigan and a master’s degree in physician’s assistant studies from Idaho State University.
A native of Michigan, Urwin and his family arrived in Maine in 2016 and moved to Edgecomb in 2017. Urwin said he enjoys outdoor activities like hunting, hiking, and boating and moved to Maine for the combination of professional and recreational opportunities.
“I am deeply interested in our community and would welcome the opportunity to engage meaningfully with Edgecomb’s residents to represent the needs and priorities of my neighbors,” Urwin said in a written statement.
If elected Urwin said he hopes to focus on finding a location for a town boat launch, bolster support for the students, teachers, parents and administrators in Edgecomb’s public school system, and secure “appropriate funding” for the Edgecomb Fire Department and its volunteers.
Urwin said he comes to the board with no experience in public office and no prior community service experience to speak of. He wasn’t planning on getting involved in local politics at this time, but he is excited by the opportunity to serve.
“It wasn’t on my radar,” Urwin said. “I follow the news. I keep in touch and I thought it was a unique opportunity.”
Urwin and his wife, Christine, share one child.
Frances Mague
Longtime Edgecomb resident Mague is unopposed in her bid for Murray’s vacated seat. Mague said her sole reason for running for office is to help the town by assisting the select board’s ability to attain a quorum.
If elected, Mague said she only intends to serve the remaining 35 days of what was Murray’s term.
Mague moved to Edgecomb in 1975 with her late husband, when both took research positions at the Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences in East Boothbay. Beginning in 1980, Mague served 12 years on the Edgecomb School Committee and five years on the select board from 1992-1997. During that same period she also represented Edgecomb on the Boothbay Region Refuse Disposal District for nine years.
Beginning during her term on the select board, Mague has served as the board’s bookkeeper providing ongoing summaries of the town’s financial position to assist the board’s deliberations. She has held that role since taking on the responsibility during her tenure on the select board in the 1990s.
In 2021, Mague was honored with the dedication of the Edgecomb’s annual town report.
