Outgoing Edgecomb Select Board member Ted Hugger (left) receives a framed 1795 map of the town from Chair Mike Smith as new board member Fran Mague applauds on Tuesday, April 18. (Bisi Cameron Yee photo)
The Edgecomb Select Board officially accepted the resignation of Selectman Ted Hugger during its meeting on Tuesday, April 18.
Hugger, former owner of the Cod Cove Inn, has served on the board since 2016 but his recent relocation to Damariscotta made him no longer eligible to hold office in the town.
“It’s been a real honor and a privilege to work here in the community and I especially enjoyed my fellow select people and the staff and the folks we’ve had interfaces with,” Hugger said. “It’s a great little community and I would encourage more people to get more involved … the town is only as good as the people make it and we’ve got some good people here so this could be a great place.”
Joking that his initial knowledge of the town consisted of the Cod Cove Inn and the town hall, Board Chair Mike Smith presented Hugger with a 1795 map of Edgecomb to commemorate his service on the board.
Smith introduced two new select board members voted in during the town’s special election on Saturday, April 15.
Lyn Norgang will serve out the remaining two years of Hugger’s term starting with the next meeting on May 2.
Fran Mague, who had served as a select board member for the town between 1992 and 1997, stepped in to fill out the remaining days of former board Chair Dawn Murray’s term. Mague will fill the position until Edgecomb’s annual town meeting scheduled for Saturday, May 20, at which point voters will elect a candidate to a full three-year term.
Murray resigned her seat in December 2022, citing health concerns related to an ongoing legal dispute between a resident and the town.
Smith said Town Clerk Claudia Coffin received an email from Fred Bopp, an attorney for Edgecomb resident Timothy Harrington, asking for “any applications, permits, site plans, wastewater disposal, and septic plans submitted to the town of Edgecomb from Jan. 1. 2023 to the present,” as well as any documents that establish the mailing address of 39 Merry Island Road.
Harrington began making Freedom of Access Act requests in August 2022 based on a dispute between himself and his neighbor Alan Whitman over whether Old Town Road was still a public road or private property. On Oct. 5 Harrington sent town officials an email stating his intent on defending himself with a firearm if threatened by his neighbor Whitman.
Harrington’s ongoing correspondence with Murray and Code Enforcement Officer George Chase over the status of the road caused Murray to request and receive an emergency protection order in October and ultimately to resign from the select board.
Smith said Coffin would respond to the latest email with the requested information.
“Our task and our hopes are that we can resolve this issue and that our relationship with Mr. Harrington not be as frequent as it has been in the last six or seven months,” Smith said.
Smith said he hopes to have a senior engineer from the Maine Department of Transportation at the next select board meeting to discuss the state’s 2024 paving project for Route 27. He encourages residents with ideas on improvements to Route 27 to submit their ideas to the town.
“Let’s throw them by the state. They’ve been receptive to our ideas in the past,” he said.
Smith said he has also invited state Sen. Cameron Reny, D-Lincoln, to attend.
The next discussion regarding the town’s 250th anniversary is scheduled for Saturday, May 13.
“The town needs a lot of people to step forward,” Smith said. Residents interested in helping can contact the town office.
The next meeting of the Edgecomb Select Board will be at 6 p.m. Tuesday, May 2.
New Edgecomb Select New Board member Fran Mague joins Ted Hugger (left) and Chair Mike Smith during a meeting on Tuesday, April 18. (Bisi Cameron Yee photo)
