New Signage on the Michaud Trail

You may notice 6 new signs at the Crandall Park start of the Michaud Trail and an additional 11 more along the trail on the other side of Central St. This project was brought to fruition thanks to the work of the Age Friendly Committee.



The Age Friendly Committee, with members Barbara Riddle-Dvorak and Jane Danforth taking the charge, secured funding through the Walking College of Maine and generous local donations for the project. Amy Collinsworth donated her time and designed the signs and Millinocket Public Works leaned in to install the signs!

Thank you to all those who saw this wonderful project through!

Wastewater Department

We would like to remind the residents of Millinocket to please NOT flush wipes, paper towels, grease, plastics, Q-tips or anything other than toilet paper into the sewer system. Even the "flushable" wipes will clog the sewer system. These items are causing extreme plugs to the sewer system and costly maintenance to our pumping stations. We would like to thank the residents for this consideration.

Jason Ingalls,

Wastewater Treatment Facility Superintendent

Public Works Department

Chainsaw Safety Training will be held here at Public Works on Wednesday, Nov 1, 2023. This is a joint training session with East Millinocket and Medway PW.

The DEP required summer flushing of the town sewer’s is still ongoing as time allows. This gives us a chance to inspect the condition of the sewers. This is also a good time to remind everyone that wipes, cooking grease and other foreign objects cause problems in the sewer.

We will begin to collect bagged leaves from residents. Any bags to be collected should be left on the roadside and we will pick them up on Fridays.

We installed new basketball hoops and welcome sign at Carmen Brigalli Playground on York St.

We Also installed a new sign at Delahanty Field, helping the Recreation Dept.

The new Arial Lift truck is being built at the dealer. September delivery has been delayed due to part availability. It is now expected to be delivered in November.

There is still shoulder work to be finished in the areas that received new hot top this summer. If we haven’t gotten to your section yet, please be patient.

Bryan Duprey, Public Works Director

Millinocket School Department

Our Food Service Department teams served 5,118 breakfasts, and 5,421 lunches in the month of September.

The Life Skills class is back in the kitchen and cafeteria at Stearns practicing food safety, proper cleaning techniques, laundry tasks, and of course how to work as a team. These students bring so much energy and enthusiasm to the department and space, and the staff is incredibly thankful to have them join them.

The Food Service Department is continuing to incorporate more scratch recipes into our menus. In October they are focusing on bringing in more homemade breakfast items as they move away from the pre-packaged items they have served in the past. So far this week they have tried out two new recipes. Whole grain biscuits for sausage, egg, and cheese breakfast sandwiches for Stearns students and whole grain apple cinnamon muffins for students at both schools! 

Stearns administration is very pleased with the progress made great progress with the Advisor/Advisee Program during Stearns Time. Comparing data from this year to last we had a total of 64 classes being failed for students in grades 9-12. This year that number is down to 30. It is still not where we want it to be, but with some more tweaking we are working in the right direction. Stearns is looking to add more enrichment activities to entice students to perform well in their classes, and to have the opportunity to partake in enhancement activities.

Overall school attendance at Stearns Jr/Sr High School has improved drastically from last year. Due to a later school day start time and help from the local authorities in getting kids to school, our students are at school getting the educational services that they need. 

The Millinocket School Department has officially hired a full-time Occupational Therapist, Elizabeth Consalvi, and things are off to a great start. She is very excited and helping us support our student’s needs.

Update on the Stearns Fire Alarm system. The new addressable system is installed and functional, we have had 2 fire drills to date. We are currently working on the last component which is a Voice Evacuation system. This is currently being installed in the Gym and Auditorium and is a new code requirement for large gathering areas. 

Continue to work on “tightening up” and securing both schools. We have an “In An Emergency” practice that has been happening. Just like a fire drill we are doing HOLD, SECURE, LOCKDOWN, EVACUATE, SHELTER. With practice, our staff, students and families will become more comfortable with these terms and practices.

Superintendent Dr. Shelley Lane attended a public hearing on EPS (Essential Programs and Services) with the Education Committee. There are a lot of questions about how the formula works to distribute funding to Maine schools, such as, how the “pot” is divided, what the definition of “minimum receiver” is, how one change affects each and every line of our funding. It was very informative. Bottom line… this is a very complex formula and making changes takes time. 

Dr. Shelley Lane, Superintendent of Schools