The Magic City Monthly
October 2022
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Check out our new Community Calendar here on the Town's website!
We are keeping the new community calendar up to date with all the fun community events happening in Millinocket! Below is a screen shot of the new Community Calendar, first is the home page of the Town's website were you can access the Community Calendar. Below that shows what the calendar looks like, if you click on the events you will find more details, a zoom link if applicable, and you can even add it to your personal/work calendar. If you click the blue button at the end of the calendar you can submit a request for an event to be added! We hope you are just as excited as we are to utilize this awesome form of community communication.
If you have any questions or would like to submit an event by email please contact Amber Wheaton, Community Initiatives Director, cid@millinocket.org
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REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE!
The Recycling Building will re-open on Monday October 31,2022 to collect cardboard, tin cans, milk jugs, colored plastic containers, paper & magazines.
For further information, please read the pamphlet here.
If you'd like a fun coloring page & learning material for your children, click here and print!
Thank you to all the residents who pushed for this to be brought back! Also, thank you Ralph Soucier, Public Works Director and Peter Jamieson, Town Manager, for working together to make this feasible!
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Public Works:
- Paving has been completed by B+B Paving on roads: Connecticut Avenue, Prospect Street, Somerset Street, High Street, Maple Street, and Journal Street. Sidewalks: Popular, Katahdin, Bates plus new curbing.
- Installing the second waste oil heater in the Public Works Garage to use waste oil to heat with. We have been receiving a lot of oil from the transfer site and fleet changes from the garage on our equipment. This will reduce the need to use #2 Fuel Oil at Public Works.
- All lighting at Public Works has been upgraded to LED fixtures.
- Winter Sand has been put up in the storage barn and we are set for the upcoming season.
- Faded Street Signs have been upgraded on the main artery road intersections from green to blue background with white lettering and retro reflective.
- Welcome Bryan Duprey, Town Mechanic who has accepted the Public Works Director Position. Ralph Soucier will be retiring effective December 1, 2022.
- Welcome new hires at Public Works: Michael York, Rob York, and Tom Creehan.
- Retirees Terry Wilson, 35 years and Richard Willigar, 20 Years with the Department has retired this month of October 2022. Wish them well, and thanks for your dedicated service to the Town.
Ralph Soucier, Director of Public Works
Town Clerk and Tax Collector
- 2023 Dog Licenses available as of 10/15/2022; Current year expires 12/31/2022; $25.00 Mandatory Late Fee applies as of 2/1/2023.
- 2023 Snowmobile Registrations available as of 10/18/2022
- 11/8/2022 General/Municipal Election: Absentee Ballots available until end of business 11/3/2022
- Voter Registration: Closed period in effect as of 10/18/2022; Requests must be made in person during the closed period.
- Wastewater Quarterly Bill Date: 10/26/2022; Due Date: 11/25/2022; INT Date: 11/28/2022
Diana Lakeman, Town Clerk
Fire and Ambulance Department
- Conducting fire drills at area schools.
- Working with MRH on flu shots for department staff looking at first of November as recommended by ME CDC and ME EMS.
- Starting to get set up for winter season and getting Sand Buckets ready to distribute.
- Starting to work on storage of off-season items for upcoming winter season.
- Collaborating with Red Cross to become part of their Home Fire Campaign (HFC) have done necessary paperwork and online training to become a designated spot to assist with free smoke alarms in our community.
Chief Thomas Malcolm,
AEMT, FLSE, EMA Director
Public Health and Safety Officer
Millinocket Fire Department
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Millinocket Municipal Airport
- The month of September was one of our largest months to date for Jet traffic, with 3000 gallons of Jet fuel sold.
Jeff Campbell, Airport Manager
Code Enforcement
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Attention residents of Millinocket: Chapter - 50 Property Maintenance Code - Section 50-04 Rubbish and Garbage:
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Accumulation of Rubbish or Garbage- All exterior property and premises of every structure shall be free from any accumulation of rubbish or garbage.
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Disposal of Rubbish- Every occupant of a structure shall dispose of all rubbish in a clean and sanitary manner by placing such rubbish in approved containers.
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Rubbish Storage Facilities- The owner of every occupied premises shall supply approved, covered containers for rubbish, and the owner of the premises shall be responsible for the removal of rubbish.
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Disposal of Garbage- Every occupant of a structure shall dispose of garbage in a clean and sanitary manner by placing such garbage in an approved garbage disposal facility or approved garbage container.
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Garbage Facilities- The owner of every dwelling shall supply one of the following: an approved mechanical food waste grinder in each dwelling unit or an approved leak-proof, covered, outside garbage container.
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Containers- The operator of every establishment producing garbage shall provide, and at all times cause to be utilized, approved leak-proof containers provided with close-fitting covers for the storage of such materials until removed from the premises for disposal.
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Composting- Owners may compost organic material in their yards, provided such composting is done per established procedures that do not promote odor, offense, vermin, or other undesirable effects upon others. Guidelines for proper composting techniques may be obtained from the Town.
Evan Campbell, Code Enforcement Officer
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East Millinocket Police Department
- As we move away from Summer and into the Fall months we want to remind everyone to drive safely during school commuting hours. Foot, vehicle and bus traffic increases during the morning and afternoon hours and we want our children to be able to safely get to their destination. We also want to wish all our area students the best as they start their new school year!
- We are also very excited that in October we will be displaying specialty plates on our police cruisers to show our support for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. At the end of the month the plates officers can buy the plates and the money will be donated to a family in the Katahdin Region suffering from the effects of cancer.
- Winter is rapidly approaching so there is no better time than now to prepare your vehicles for winter travel. Studded tires are now permissible by law to be put back on your vehicle. It is also a good idea to have your vehicle serviced before winter and pack an emergency kit in your vehicle.
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Public Works has been working diligently to put up the new Wayfinding signs before snow flies! You may also notice they have been hard at work swapping out the old street signs to new blue and white reflective street signs.
Thank you to the entire Public Works staff for constantly working towards keeping Millinocket beautiful and traveler friendly!
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Wastewater Treatment Facility | |
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Millinocket's Wastewater Treatment Facility is a State of Maine licensed Wastewater Treatment facility which has a three-pond lagoon system, built in 1979. The plant went online in 1980. The design flow is licensed for 2.33 MGD. Currently the daily flow is 0.50 MGD on average. We test once weekly for BOD’s and TSS. During the treatment process, percent removal of BOD (Biochemical Oxygen Demand) generally runs approximately 95%. As far as the percent removal for TSS (Total Suspended Solids) generally runs approximately 97%. We are permitted to have a monthly average of 85% removal. For a 40 plus year old treatment facility, this is very adequate treatment. The information we gather is recorded and submitted to the State level, the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) than is forward to the Federal level, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). We must meet the license requirements applied to this plant. If we do not and it becomes an exceedance on our license it could result in enforcement action which could lead to heavy fines.
"Currently we have 4 fulltime employees, 3 are grade 3 operators to operate the grade 3 treatment facility. I am happy to say that the Wastewater Treatment employees are extremely dedicated in operating the town’s 40 plus year old treatment facility and pumping stations. Due to the age of the treatment process, at times it can become very challenging."
-Jason Ingalls, Interment
Superintendent
James Charette, Superintendent
Jason Ingalls, Interment Superintendent
Wastewater Treatment Facility
*Pictured above is the Treatment Plant and the newly refurbished pickup which was done in lieu of purchasing new
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The Town of Millinocket has a collection system consisting of 27 miles of gravity fed sewer, approximately 900 manholes, 5 pump stations, and 3 intercepting sewers. The pump stations all have standby generators which come on during power outages. Four of the pump stations pump the domestic wastewater to the Main Pump Station in Little Italy and that station pumps the wastewater directly to the treatment facility. The Main Pump station is a sample point of our influent sample which we run in our lab and goes hand and hand with our Effluent sample used to perform the BOD and TSS test. Effluent is the water that is discharge out of our last lagoon before being discharged into the Penobscot River. Basically, the wastewater enters into pond number one here at the plant and under aeration keeping the solids in suspension the water is transferred over into pond number two where it settles out more and then remaining treated water still under aerations settles out and is at its final stage and is discharged through a pipeline that runs through the plant and out to the Penobscot River. The water being discharged is being closely monitored to meet the license requirements.
The Town of Millinocket would like to remind the property owners/residents to not flush non-flushable items into the sewer system. Including, but not limited to: Baby Wipes, Flushable Wipes, Cleaning Wipes, Feminine Hygiene Products,
Paper Towels, Tissues/Q-tips, Grease, Plastics, Mop Heads, or trash of any kind.
Municipal employees continue to find very large amounts of non-flushable items causing extreme plugs to the sewer system resulting in costly maintenance to our pumping stations. If this issue continues, this may result in an increase of your sewer rates. Thank you for this consideration.
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Winter Street Parking
There shall be no parking on the following-described streets or parts of streets during the hours and dates indicated, except that in periods of emergency as here in provided, doctors, clergymen, policemen, firemen, firetruck drivers, operators of United States Mail vehicles, ambulance drivers and undertakers, in pursuit of their respective professions and occupations, shall not be subject to the provisions of this section:
The entire length of all streets in Millinocket from November 1st to April 1st from 11pm-7am. We appreciate your cooperation in keeping the roads safer for everyone this winter!
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On October 4th, Town Manager, Peter Jamieson met with federal representatives from the Northern Border Regional Commission, as well as representatives from their counterparts at the State of Maine Department of Economic and Community Development, the Our Katahdin Team and representatives from the offices of Senators King and Collins, as well as Congressman Golden.
They discussed and toured project sites related to NBRC funding awarded to both the Town of Millinocket and Our Katahdin. The Town of Millinocket was awarded funds to cover the cost of the engineering and design phase of the proposed new airport terminal. Airport Manager, Jeff Campbell, took the photo and the lead on presenting the proposed future of our airport and dome of the barriers we come up against on the way. He fielded tough questions from a very intrigued crowd of guests and represented our town remarkably well.
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October 8th, there was a Fly-In/Cruz-In event hosted at the Millinocket Municipal Airport, put on by Airport Manager, Jeff Campbell. There were antique cars and different aircrafts that came in from all over the state.
We want to thank all those who traveled from away (or locally) and the volunteers who helped make the event a success!
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Fire Prevention Week Visit
October 20th- Pre-K students from Granite Street School did a field trip to the Fire Station to learn fire safety tips and check out the equipment, and actually got to see crew dispatched to ambulance call.
Thank you to all the Granite Street School staff and Millinocket Fire Department for making fire safety education so fun!
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Monday, Oct. 31st from 4PM to 7PM on Aroostook Avenue between Central Street and Summer Street for children in the community. Will have that portion of street closed from 3:30PM-7PM. Many citizens, business and organizations will also be involved. Millinocket Nazarene Church will have a trunk or treat in their parking lot by their Fellowship Center. The Town will have Massachusetts Avenue closed from Heritage Street to New Jersey Street and the intersection of Independence Lane for the substantial number of children that trick or treat in this area and their safety. This closure will be from 4PM to 8PM.
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The Town of Millinocket is currently seeking volunteers to help with various events and projects! Join our team to help make our community a great place to live! CLICK HERE to sign up online or stop by the Town Office to sign up person. We are looking forward to meeting all community members who want
to help make a difference!
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