The Magic City Monthly August 2022 | |
Greetings from the Millinocket Town Office!
Well that summer was as crazy as it gets! I sincerely hope that everyone found time to enjoy what our town and our region have to offer. We are all so lucky to have direct access to an outdoor playground like this. I had an absolutely blast with family upta camp, hiking with my daughter, and bombing through mountain bike trails both in town and at New England Outdoor Center!
I would like to wish our school department and all our community’s students the very best as they head back into school next week, with a very special welcome to our new Superintendent, Dr. Shelly Lane. I look forward to working with you.
As we start to shift out of summer mode and info fall, I am feeling energized and excited to get tackling more work that will continue to move Millinocket forward. Be on the look out for upcoming committee meetings. In these meetings we explore ideas, plan, and begin implementing change. All are welcome to attend and weigh in.
I hope to see you all out and about this fall at the Trails End Festival, the Fly in & Cruise in, and the Maine Woods Rambler. Please feel free to say Hi and strike up a conversation!
Please encourage your friends and neighbors to sign up for convenient e-updates from the Town. A sign-up sheet is also available in-person at the Town Office. We will be using this platform for monthly newsletters, periodic updates, and announcements on important topics.
| | Peter Jamieson, Town Manager | | |
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Public Works
- Lines have been painted in the parking lots at both schools and all other sections of Town completed.
- New Wayfinding Signs have been installed throughout town with a few more to come.
- B+B Paving will be doing the street and sidewalk paving in a couple of weeks.
- Cleaned up Great Northern Park beside the Town Office.
- Removed over-grown bushes at the Town Office. Loamed and seeded area.
- Applied for MDOT MPI grant to reconstruct Bates Street. Storm water system, culverts, sidewalks, road re-alinement, and street paving will be the major upgrades needed. Amber Wheaton, CID, Ralph Soucier, Public Works Director, and Brent Bubar, MDOT Traffic Engineer will be working together to submit an application to the State for this upgrade which would qualify for a 60/40 split of funds between the State (60%) and Town (40%).
Transfer Station:
- Compactor Building has now been upgraded to all LED lighting fixtures. A rebate from Efficiency Maine will be coming back the Town as filed by Public Works working with Gilman Electric. Approximately a 40% rebate will be calculated.
- After many months of negotiations between the Bondholder Trustee, the Receiver, Lienholders, and the MRC, the sale of the Hampden Facility to the MRC has been approved. This is exciting news and is a significant first phase of the plant's reopening. Earlier this week, we came to agreements with the last objecting lienholder, and with that news, the Judge was able to approve the sale of the Facility to the MRC.
Cemetery:
- Crew is doing a great job. Grounds are looking good. Two Volunteers have been able to restore the Knights of Columbus Monuments Statues, and re-paint the Monument which looks great. They also have been fixing leaning stones in the old sections.
Ralph Soucier, Director of Public Works
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Waste Water
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During weekly flushing in the Iron Bridge Road / Riverside Drive area, the Public Works employees are finding very large amounts of wipes nearly plugging the sewer lines. This is becoming a very big problem weekly. They are having lots of trouble unplugging the sewer lines. We would again like to remind the residents of Millinocket to please not flush wipes, paper towels, grease, plastics, Q-tips or anything but toilet paper (only) to 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.
James Charette,
Waste Water Treatment Facility Superintendent
East Millinocket Police Department
- Officers have encountered a high number of intoxicated and drugged drivers on our roadways during the busy summer months.
- Some of these intoxicated drivers have had dangerously high blood alcohol levels which is a grave concern for the safety of our roadways.
- Officers will continue to aggressively enforce these crimes and want to remind motorists of the dangers of driving intoxicated.
Cameron McDunnah,
Chief of East Millinocket Police Department
Fire and Ambulance Department
- Monitoring COVID cases in our area have had spike over past few weeks.
- Ambulance has been busy, noted uptick in COVID cases that have required transport.
- Worked with Millinocket PTO, and Amber Wheaton (CID) on hosting a Back-to-School Celebration Day for children in our community. Will have school supplies, food, and other things for the children to enjoy as they get ready to go back to school. This was very well attended, and families were very appreciative for the supplies.
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Conducting safety inspections at Millinocket Schools prior to the opening of school on August 31st.
Chief Thomas Malcolm,
AEMT, FLSE, EMA Director
Public Health and Safety Officer
Millinocket Fire Department
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Town Clerk and Tax Collector's Office | |
Thank you to the East Millinocket Police Department for their service. They have been diligently working to serve and protect the citizen's of Millinocket.
They recently recovered a lawn mower that was stolen from the Millinocket Cemetery in less than 24 hours. Also, they spent an afternoon cleaning up the beloved "Monkey Trails" in Millinocket which was being used as an illegal camp site. Both projects they partnered with the Millinocket Public Works Department.
Thank you again EMPD and thank you Public Works for all you do!
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Upcoming Community Events | |
Maine Woods Rambler
September 24th & 25th 2022 at New England Outdoor Center
We invite you to the second annual Maine Woods Rambler, at the New England Outdoor Center, in Millinocket. Once again we’ve teamed up with Katahdin Area Trails to create the most excellent adventure bicycle wilderness experience. The weekend kicks off on Saturday with a guided trail tour, showing off the newly built mountain bike trails at Hammond Ridge! Bring your mountain bike and join the ride, or rent a kayak and hang out on Millinocket Lake. The main event is on Sunday, two routes will be offered with mass-starts: a 50-km epic ride and a 100-km even-more-epic-er ride. A guided family trail ride will also take place on Sunday, for youth and family who want to check out the trails, with bikes and instruction available courtesy of the Katahdin Gear Library. For more information and to register, please visit the event website here.
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The Millinocket Memorial Library has various events in the month of September , please check out the events calendar on their website so you can join in on the fun!
Millinocket Memorial Library Webpage
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Trails End Festival
September 16th & 17th at Veterans Memorial Park and September 18th at Crandall's Park
Join in on a weekend of food, music and fun! Check out the Trails End Festival website to see all that is planned so far, there is more to come.
The committee is still seeking volunteers to help out that weekend. There is also still available space for vendors. Please email [email protected] with any interest!
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VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!
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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