| 2/2008 SELECTMEN'S REPORT |
| PENOBSCOT COMMUNITY WEBPAGES |
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| Please accept this Selectmen,s report as a brief look back over the events of 2007 as well as some things we are anticipating in 2008. We wish to thank all of you for your trust and confidence in the three of us as your town administrators. It has been a pleasure to serve on this board. A great deal of time and energy has been spent in recent months by selectmen, school committee, and volunteers on the State's mandated regionalizaton of school administrations. After many hours of deliberations, it appears that the only cost savings will come from closings small schools, an alternative that most residents of Penobscot have rightfully rejected. As of this writing, the issue seems to be back in the hands of the legislature to make the much needed improvements to the original law. We will see. Recent Changes at the transfer station have been made to improve the handling of waste and to reduce costs. Early in the year we arranged with the city of Ellsworth to accept our recyclables at no cost other than transportation. We then signed a long term contract with Penobscot Energy Recovery Company that reduces considerably our tipping fees to that facility. We have employed Mark Hardison as the transfer station manager and greatly appreciate the work he is doing there for us. And lastly, we have set up a fee schedule for certain bulky items and demolition debris, which has greatly reduced the volume of this material. If you have any concerns or suggestions about our changes at the transfer station, please feel free to let us know. Last summer officials from Spinney Creek Shelfish Inc. received permission from the Dept. of Marine Resources to harvest clams from the closed portion of Northern Bay. They harvested over 136,000 pounds (2725 bushels) of clams in 24 days, employing diggers from Penobscot and surrounding towns. It is clear to us that as the last overboard discharges into Nothern Bay are removed, this public resource should be protected for the citizens of Penobscot. Phil Nesbit, with help from Jessie Leach, Stewart Leach, Bob Norden, Eddie Wardwell and Edward Gracie, set up a Shellfish Proposal Committee to begin the task of drafting a Shellfish Conservation Ordinance for the Town of Penobscot. With help from bioligist Hanna Annis of DMR and many hours of work, this group has put together a model ordinance for the town to consider at Town Meeting. The selectmen wish to thank this group of volunteers for their hard work on this proposal. Finally, we wish to thank Dennis Robertson for what has turned out to be a much more difficult job as fire chief than we are sure he ever anticipated. He and the rest of the fire crew are to be applauded for their long hours of training, maintenance of equipment, and willingness to turn out anytime and anywhere to assist the people of Penobscot in emergency situations. There are many folks who do small things individually and in groups that make life in a small town special. We thank all those who serve on the many town committees and boards, and especially wish to thank Bob Grindle, Lisa Oettinger, Rebecca Orcutt and the Boy Scouts for their fine horticulture endeavors throughout town. And last but certainly not least, we wish to thank out angel in the front office, Cupe Gross, for the way she wears so many hats so well. Respectfully Submitted, Paul Bowen, Stanley Shorey, Harold Hatch |
| Selectmen's Office - 326-4364 Selectmen's Meetings held every Tuesday at 7:00pm at the Town Hall |