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

A Piece of Our Past

The Millinocket Mill site was first the location of the Thomas Fowler farm (late 1830's) and the farm was later was owned by Charles Powers. In 1899 GNP was formed and construction began. Between 1899 and 1929 (dates of upper & lower photos), the mill and the town grew rapidly. In 1900, Millinocket's population was already 2000 and the first newspaper rolled off of #7 paper machine. In 1901, the town was incorporated. From then on, both the mill and town grew rapidly!


Photo curtesy of Trudy Wyman, The Millinocket Historical Society, curator. The museum located at 80 Central St. in Millinocket. 

Engage, Participate, & Subscribe!

Stay in the know by attending the various Council and Committee meetings. We appreciate any and all input and feedback. Please remember this is YOUR community and YOUR voice matters. Click here to view the current meetings calendar. If you cannot attend a meeting you can stay in the know by watching the recordings on our YouTube Channel. Feel free to subscribe to the channel to stay up to date. 


The Millinocket Town Council meets on the 2nd and 4th Thursday of each month at 5:30. Meetings are held in-person in Charles Sanders Council Chambers and remote access available via Zoom. CLICK HERE for more information regarding town council meetings! Please considering joining these meetings are participating in the discussion. All are welcome!


The School Department Budget hearing will be Tuesday August 30th, 5:30pm in the Charles Sanders Council Chamber and will be accessible via zoom here

Administration Building:

Our Katahdin received two bids for the EPA Brownfields cleanup project on August 10th. Negotiations with the low bidder are now underway. Lakeside Concrete Cutting & Abatement Professionals provided the low bid on the project. Hazardous material cleanup is expected to be substantially complete by the end of November.  


Our Katahdin and its brownfield consulting team of Ransom Consulting and Kleinfelder are in discussions with the Maine Historic Preservation Committee to have this historic building listed on the national historic registry. This listing would preserve the opportunity for a future developer to pursue historic renovation tax credits at the state and federal level.  


Senator Collins Visit

Senator Susan Collins visited Our Katahdin on August 9th to discuss the 2022 Congressionally Directed Spending (CDS) award of $671,000 for study of the former GNP wastewater treatment plant. These funds will be utilized to evaluate the existing conditions of the facility and be coordinated to continue generating interest in this part of the One North site for future tenants. Environmental investigation work is expected to kick-off immediately after receipt of funding. These funds are being administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Our Katahdin is grateful for Senator Collins' continued support of Our Katahdin's redevelopment efforts at One North.  

Municiple Updates


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


Waste Water


  • 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.
  • 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

Department Deep Dive

Town Clerk and Tax Collector's Office

Services offered:

  • Motor Vehicle Registrations
  • Tax and Sewer Billing and Collections
  • Vital Records – Birth, Death, Marriage, & Marriage Intentions
  • Dog Licensing
  • Inland Fisheries & Wildlife Agency – Snowmobile, Boat, ATV, & Game Licensing
  • Municipal Licensing – Victualer, Peddler, Entertainment/Liquor, Sole Proprietor-D/B/A,
  • Payment Processing Center – Ambulance, Cemetery, Recreation, Transfer Site, & Airport
  • Notary Public Services
  • Fax & Copy Services
  • Voter Registration
  • Elections Division
  • Clerk of the Town Council/Committees/Boards – Retention of Minutes
  • Retention of Records of the Town & Cemetery – Deeds, Lot Cards, & Maps
  • Main Directory and Information Hub

The Town Clerk’s administrative office is located on the first floor of the municipal building and accurately maintains all town records including vital records, council records, licenses and to conduct elections and voter registration in accordance with Maine Law.

The Town Clerk is tasked with keeping all public records for the Town of Millinocket. The Clerk prepares agendas and minutes of Town Council meetings. Our vital records include birth, death and marriage records from which certified copies may be purchased. We process marriage, victualer, amusement and peddlers licenses, some of which are available in pdf form on the Town of Millinocket site.

The office of the Town Clerk administers vehicle registrations, issues hunting and fishing licenses, boat, ATV and snowmobile registrations and issues dog licenses. The Town Clerk also serves as registrar of voters and administers records and licenses for individuals who live in the unorganized territories in the Millinocket area.

The Town is extremely grateful for these smiling faces who come in each day and take great care of all our citizens! We are fortunate to have a team with the experience, patience and dedication that makes this department run flawlessly. 



Important Upcoming Dates:

  • Town Council & School Board Nomination Papers available August 1, 2022 through September 9, 2022 in the Clerk’s Office
  • Town Council: Two (2) – 3-year terms
  • School Board: one (1) 1-year term, Two (2) – 3-year terms
  • Papers due in office by 4:00pm, September 9, 2022 to be placed on the November 8th, 2022 ballot
  • Eligibility requirements: Primary Resident of Millinocket & Register Voter of Millinocket
  • August 30th, 2022 – Public Hearing and Adoption Meeting on the proposed Fiscal 2023 School Budget beginning at 5:30 PM in the Council Chambers of the Municipal building located at 197 Penobscot Avenue, Millinocket, Maine.



“There isn’t one person that shines without the other in this office. As the adage says, “it takes a village”, this office is the prime example of how it truly functions efficiently and effectively with full team efforts, support, dedication, and attention to detail in a fast-paced work environment with many moving parts beyond window transactions and services, specifically behind the scenes meeting daily, weekly, and monthly mandates and deadlines. The office of the Clerk and Tax Collector is truly a great place to start and/or end a career with many advancement opportunities through the multiple levels of municipal services with diverse engagement, responsibilities, oaths of office, moral turpitude to uphold as State and local laws govern the many facets of all office relations and functions. It is the recommendation of the Town Clerk to dive into any municipal clerk job opportunity, even if political government is not of interest.”

Diana Lakeman, Town Clerk 






Pictured (from left to right) Sharon, Diana, Roxanne and Amber

thankyou_paper_hdr.jpg

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! 

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. 



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

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 trailsendfestival@gmail.com with any interest! 


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!

Contact Us

Millinocket Town Office

197 Penobscot Ave

Millinocket, ME 04462

(207) 723-7000

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