The Waldoboro Select Board reviewed funding opportunities for a number of town projects, including a future community center and town office upgrades, at its Tuesday, April 25 meeting. Discussion also included needs for the town’s emergency medical services and public works departments.
Waldoboro Recreation Director Marcus Benner spoke to the board about continuing plans for a public playground on a section of the John Foster Little League Field currently home to an unfinished batting cage.
Following select board direction at its last meeting, Benner said he visited five area playgrounds to evaluate options by CedarWorks and Maine Recreation Design. Both companies provided several quotes.
Benner said he recommended the metal-and-plastic options from Maine Recreation Design for longevity and price.
The board voted unanimously, with two members absent, to approve a metal-and-plastic design. Benner will meet with the recreation committee this week to determine which of the three quoted to recommend.
Members have asked for swings along with a climbing structure, which Benner said the committee will discuss. He said the swings would add about $10,000 and an additional space concern for the project.
When completed, the playground will be the only one in town publicly available. The existing school playgrounds are open to the public when school is not in session.
Waldoboro Public Works Director John Daigle reported the department is facing a staffing challenge, having lost two employees in the last month.
He suggested the board consider raises to retain employees in the future; this year’s municipal budget included funding to do so for the Waldoboro EMS and fire departments.
According to Daigle, his department faces competition in hiring from trucking companies, which can offer more flexible schedules.
The board approved Waldoboro EMS Chief Derek Booker to put in an order for an ambulance replacement scheduled in 2025. A truck already on order is still on schedule to arrive next year, Booker said, but parts and equipment shortages could complicate future orders.
He said the department has already developed specifications for the design it needs, and just has to put in the order for a minimal deposit of $500.
“If we don’t, we’re shooting ourselves in the foot,” board member Bob Butler said when making the motion.
Keizer said the town’s new alewife counter is under construction on the Medomak River. The grant-funded project will automatically count fish heading upstream to Washington Pond.
Another outside funding request for $1 million of congressionally directed spending towards the construction of a community and medical arts center in partnership with LincolnHealth was approved by U.S. Sen. Angus King’s office, according to Keizer. The request will move on to the U.S. Senate for approval.
If awarded, it will add to a previously funded million for $2 million total for the center through congressional earmarks.
The town has also applied for a U.S. Department of Homeland Security grant for security upgrades to the town office. The $70,000 request would cover door security, keypads, and surveillance camera upgrades.
Butler provided an update from the Municipal Review Committee, a group of 115 towns including Waldoboro that have contracted to send their municipal waste to a plant in Hampden for processing. That plant has been closed since 2020 through a series of financing challenges and backers that have fallen through.
Butler said interest from California-based White Oak Global Advisors, which he said has purchased 60-day exclusivity on the project while investigating a final agreement.
“We’ve been burned so many times,” Butler said, but the firm has been “far more informed” in initial meetings than previous investors. White Oak also has funds on hand and will not need to raise them, he said.
He said an agreement should be in place by June 30, and the committee is working on a backup plan from the legislature.
The plant could be running in 18 months, according to Butler, and tipping fees for disposal have not changed.
Waldoboro Planning and Development Director Max Johnstone said the town could be eligible for town office funding upgrades from the state Community Resilience Partnership this year. The town must hold a public workshop, and then pass a resolution stating desire to partner with the project, Johnstone said.
Funding could be used for HVAC or lighting upgrades in the municipal building or other environmentally-focused projects, according to Johnstone.
The workshop will be held at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, May 9 at the town office before the regularly scheduled select board meeting.
The board also approved Johnstone to purchase $6,000 worth of predatory beetles to combat hemlock woolly adelgid in the town forest. Voters approved $20,000 for the adelgid control in November.
Johnstone suggested the town wait a year to see the results. Waldoboro will have funding to pursue conventional spraying if the beetles are not effective. The amount approved Tuesday will purchase 2,000 of the insects.
In other business, Bill Maxwell, of the Waldoborough Historical Society, presented an updated book of Waldoboro’s history, which he and late society President Jean Lawrence developed from a similar book put together for the town’s 200th anniversary in 1973. He thanked Tanya Blodgett, town administrative assistant, for her help.
The Waldoboro Select Board will next meet at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, May 9 in the town office and online.
