As the ground begins to thaw and days gradually get longer, our thoughts are turning towards the boundless possibilities for growth that Spring inspires. In the spirit of growth, the Town of Wells can expect to look forward to engaging Spring activities, community-focused volunteer events, and new faces within the town staff.

Spring is almost here! We at the library are ready to say hello to the return of flowers and warmth and the color green. Come check out our great resources on planting, pruning, and pick up some seeds at our new seed library!

National Library Week is April 3^rd – 9^th. This year’s theme is Connect with Your Library. We’d love to have people stop by and see what a treasure your public library is in the community and say ”hi” to the hard-working library staff.

Did you know the library has museum passes available for local attractions? The Brick Store Museum, the Children's Museum of Maine, the Children's Museum of New Hampshire, the Portland Museum of Art, the Ogunquit Museum of American Art, the Southworth Planetarium, and Historic New England can be visited for free or at a discount. We thank the Friends of the Wells Library for providing the support for these passes. Contact the library for more information.

On Friday March 4th, several officers participated as “Guest Readers” for the Wells Elementary School's “Celebration of Reading Day”. The theme this year was Kindness and Empathy.

The department has recently been asked to assist in getting the word out about the HEAP (Home Energy Assistance Program) through York County Community Action. “YCCA is finding an alarming number of local families struggling to pay for their home heating fuel. Many families are running out of fuel and trying to stay warm by adding clothing and wrapping themselves in blankets. The situation has become dire for some families, including households with children and seniors," according to Brad Bohon.

As I’m sure most of you know, either firsthand or from friends, the cost of heating fuel has skyrocketed in the last few weeks; I want to make sure residents know about programs like this so they can take advantage of it. Bohon also stated that “through surveys and community needs assessments, that nearly 3 out of 4 households are eligible for HEAP fuel assistance have not applied for the service”.

Partnering with law enforcement is not something new for this program. In 2009, when heating costs were high, police officers and Emergency Medical Services in York County were asked to get the word out also. If you or someone you know is in need of heating fuel assistance, please make the call to get the help that is available.

The beginning of March marks the Annual Harbor Master Training at Maine Maritime Academy in Castine. After a two-year hiatus caused by Covid-19, this year’s event went off without a hitch. The conference was well attended with over one hundred Harbor Masters in attendance. Guest speakers included the Army Corps of Engineers, Maine Marine Patrol, Legal Counsel, coast Guard, Border patrol, Maine submerged Lands and Maine D.O.T. to name a few. This training never disappoints with valuable advice on Grants, Ordinance changes and future dredging which is in the very near future for Wells Harbor.

March also starts the billing season as hard copy mooring bills were mailed March 10th with electronic invoices coming the following week. We will also be installing the launch docks this month, which will start the preparations for the upcoming boating season.

A current mooring/slip waitlist is posted on the Town’s harbor master page.

Wells Fire was invited to participate in Wells Winter Wonderland on February 5th. Pictured here, firefighters Sean and Carissa had a blast teaching the kids all about fire safety. Although it was a pretty cold day, it was a fabulous turnout.

On February 24th, Wells firefighters were alerted of a vehicle fire on the highway. On arrival, the car was fully involved on the right shoulder. Luckily, all passengers were standing safely on the side of the highway. The crew was able to extinguish the fire promptly, but unfortunately the vehicle was a total loss.

On February 28th, Wells firefighters were called to Littlefield Road for a house fire. Firefighters were greeted with heavy smoke pouring from a single-family residence. We were fortunate to have an extra call firefighter at the station working-out, so we were able to respond with five firefighters. This greatly enhanced our ability to control the situation much more effectively. Luckily, the residents were out of the building. Soon after arrival, we were joined by Ogunquit, Kennebunk, and Sanford Firefighters to quickly bring the situation under control. A special thank you to North Berwick firefighters for covering our corner station.

We are excited to also announce we have received Zachary Litvinchyk’s return from deployment orders. He will be returning to the station March 8th and working on C shift. We are glad to have him back safe!

The Planning Department continues to work on ordinance changes for the June Town Meeting. The change to eliminate the requirement for sprinkler systems in Medical marijuana cultivation and processing facilities was approved to be on the June ballot.

The changes to Cluster Subdivisions, Multifamily Developments and vested rights in subdivisions are proposed for final workshop on the March 15th Board of Selectmen meeting and final public hearing on April 5th. The Cluster subdivision changes include larger lot size requirements and an increase in vegetated buffers along town ways. The Multifamily development change will stipulate that density requirements be the same as a Cluster Subdivision. The vested rights addition to the subdivision ordinance will allow a preliminary plan application to be considered as vested/grandfathered.

The Planning Board continues the review of multiple applications and will be scheduling site walks for April, weather dependent.