Connecting local government to the people we serve! |
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Thank You for Your Service!
Thursday, November 11, is Veterans Day, a day to acknowledge and express gratitude to the people in our community that have served our country through military service. Thank you to all of the veterans who, whether they served states side or overseas, in war time or in times of peace, knew what could be asked of them and stepped forward bravely. Below are profiles of four of our Town of Wells staff who served in the military.
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Kevin Chabot, EdD, Captain, Wells Police Department
Kevin served from 1998-2006 completing his service as a Staff Sergeant in the US Army, 94th Military Police Company. Kevin was a member of a Valorous Unit Award reserve company with a 9-month deployment to Bosnia from 2000-2001 and 20 month deployment to Iraq from 2002-2004.
Kevin enlisted while in his junior year of high school and spent the following summer at boot camp. Kevin enlisted because, "I think everyone should serve their country in some way, shape, or form. I think there is utility to be gained by contributing back to society."
Recounting his time Kevin shared, "Part of our mission in Ramadi, Iraq is we set up the Al-Arbar Police Academy to train police officers. We made a difference that was going to echo into their communities".
Kevin sees Veterans Day as a communal celebration. "It's not an individual holiday. You're celebrating service to your country as a collective of members in the armed forces."
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Dr. Cinndi Davidson, MD, Recording Secretary
Cinndi served in the Army Reserves from 1984 through 1995. She was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant and worked through the ranks to a Captain at the time she left.
To Cinndi, Veterans Day is about, "A lot of memories, my own service, the people I served with, my own father as a veteran." Her father was one of the reasons Cinndi was interested in joining the military. She remembers how her father would get, "all dressed up once a month for his Army meetings. I was always a Daddy's girl, and wanted to be like my dad." When she was seven years old she saw a recruitment poster in her local post office, copied the address shown, and wrote a letter to the Pentagon asking how she could sign up. She received a kind letter in return, letting her know how pleased they would be to hear from her in another 10 years.
It took a bit longer than 10 years, but in her first year of medical school, Cinndi followed her father into the Army Reserves. She says of her time, "It was not always easy, but a great experience and I'm glad I did it. I learned a lot of things and experienced a lot I wouldn't have if I didn't."
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Jim Genereaux, Deputy Director of Code Enforcement
Jim joined the Army in 1982 and retired in 2008. He spent 16 years of his service in construction engineering and 10 years in combat engineering. His 26 year career included 4 years overseas including time in Kosovo, Iraq, Paraguay, Chile, Argentina, Germany, and France.
On Veterans Day Jim has a two-part tradition. For the start of the day, Jim likes to, "honor my father and a few other individuals I know that have passed." Later in the day he says, "I meet up with all of the old veterans I served with at a VFW in Massachusetts, eating Chinese food and sharing war stories." When he hears someone say, "thank you for your service", it's a proud moment as he looks back on his service and those he served with.
Some of his best memories are from his time in Kosovo where he was in charge of his unit. Jim shared that this time was, "The most satisfying because of what we did." The unit adopted 18 schools and partnered with groups in the US to provide school supplies, clothing, and food for the communities the schools served. The unit also built each school a new soccer field! While there Jim also, "Got to meet a lot of nice people, people making feasts for three or four soldiers that they only met a couple of times." What is one piece of friendly advice he has from his years of service? "Never be in Paraguay during a coup."
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Dave Johnson, Code Enforcement Officer
Dave served in the Coast Guard from 1963 through 1967. He was enrolled at a military college and enlisted after his first year. After training in Cape May, NJ, Dave was stationed in New London, CT on the USCG Cutter Owasco.
To Dave, Veterans Day, "Means more to me because of my relatives that served in war times and all the friends I lost in Vietnam, including two good friends I went to high school with. Veterans Day is a day of remembering brave souls."
Dave remembers his service fondly. "I enjoyed being at sea. We were a 28-day patrol ship. We did rescue and meteorological and ocean studies. The camaraderie, I mean you lived on the ship! You're a fireman one minute, on a gun the next, and then on painting and maintenance the next. It is an experience that lives with you forever."
Dave left the Coast Guard and settled in Maine starting a 33 year career in police service in Calais. He transferred to Ogunquit PD where he eventually retired as a Lieutenant.
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If you are not one of the more than 1,300 people that has already voted early by absentee ballot, don't forget to head to the polls on Tuesday, November 2, from 8:00 am - 8:00 pm, at the Junior High gymnasium. You can find information about the Town questions on our website and information regarding the State of Maine questions on the Secretary of State's website.
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Help Keep Kids Warm this Winter! |
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The Rotary Club of Wells has recently launched “Operation Warm” which is their newest service project to provide winter clothing for children in need within the Wells community. Earlier this year the club was awarded a $2,000 grant from Rotary District 7780. The grant along with the generous support of club donors will help to provide winter coats and snow pants to children in need. Community partners included in this service project include the York County Community Action Corp., Operation Warm which is a nationally known nonprofit that supplies children’s coats, and Reny’s of Wells.
To further impact their efforts, the Rotary Club of Wells will be holding a warm clothing drive on November 2nd with the collection site being at the Wells Junior High School Gymnasium located at 1470 Post Road, Wells, ME. The Club is asking the community to consider donating new socks, mittens and winter hats for children ages 3 months to 8 years of age when they come to vote. A table and collection box will be available from 9 am to 6pm at the Wells Polling site.
Residents who may not be able to make it to the voting site on November 2nd can also make an online donation toward the clothing initiative. A donation of $25 buys a child a warm winter coat, mittens, hats, and pair of socks. Or simply visit the Rotary website and click donate to make a donation.
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Parks & Recreation Update
Tina LeBlanc, Parks & Recreation Director
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The Wells Parks & Recreation Department held it’s Annual Haunted Hayride on October 23rd and it was a great success. We had just over 800 participants that rode through the” Wizard of Hobbs” Haunted woods. The event hosted just under 100 volunteers to help this year. The Recreation staff and Commission Board members worked many hours to organize, set up, and clean up after the ride was over. We took online registrations only and required masks to be worn during the ride and it surprisingly filled up the morning of the ride! We are looking forward to next year and hoping to see more families and businesses put on scenes to help build up the hayride even more! We are currently working on next year’s theme so stay tuned…
You can find our Winter Programs and events on our website. Happy Fall! 😊
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Finance/Tax Collection Update
Jodie Sanborn, Finance Director
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On October 18th department staff started issuing the new Lighthouse Plates. The funding for this specialty plate will be used to preserve and restore Maine’s iconic lighthouses.
We want to remind all of our seasonal residents that they can re-register their vehicles up to six month early. Registrant must provide an insurance card that has an expiration date through the renewal month.
Lastly, the 2022 tax bills were mailed on October 20th. If you have not received your bill, please contact the department to obtain a copy of your bill. The first installment is due by November 29th to avoid interest. Payments can be sent by mail, dropped in the large green drop-box in the parking lot at the Town Hall, or made in person in the Finance office.
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Assessing Update
Keeley Lambert, Assessor
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The Assessing Office committed to our tax rate on October 15th, 2021. The new tax rate is $10.52 per thousand. The breakdown of is as follows: $6.23 School, $3.76 Municipal, $.053 County. Our Certified assessment ratio is at 90%.
Tax bills have been mailed out and most have been received. We do get some returned back to our office and try to mail them back out to a new address if we can discover one. If for any reason you think you should be getting a tax bill and have not yet please contact our office 646-6081 and we can help. It is extremely important to always make sure your addresses are correct. Please feel free to reach out with any changes. If you have sold your property and still received the tax bill for it, please forward it to the new owner.
It’s that time of year again where we see the campgrounds closing and lots of units being sold. Please remember if you sell a unit or buy a unit a bill of sale should be brought into our office as soon as possible.
Every year we have a representative from the State come down and copy all the Bills of Sale that happen between residents regarding all the units in campgrounds and contact all the new buyers that didn’t get a chance to pay the State sales tax on those transactions. If you are one of the new owners of these units, please contact our office for the IUSE Form that needs to be filled out.
Our office is busy fielding phone calls about Homestead, Veterans, and Blind exemptions. All applications need to be in our office by April 1st, 2022 in order to qualify for the 2022-2023 tax year. Applications can be found online and if you have any questions about qualifying for any of the above, please call our office.
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Winter is Coming!
Carol Murray, Director of Public Works
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The leaves on the ground waiting to be cleaned up are a reminder that fall is almost ready to move aside and let winter take center stage. In the next two weeks, Public Works will be outfitting the trucks with their gear for snow and ice season. The folks that plow snow and treat ice on the town’s roads, just attended a class to learn about new methods, materials and equipment. Because of the nature of winter operations, there are times when property damage occurs to mailboxes, lawns, fences and ornamental bushes. Often it is not the actual plow that hits these elements, but rather the snow/slush that is pushed off the road that causes the damage. Mailboxes will not be replaced unless they are well off the road on private property or the damage is the operator’s fault, for example avoiding a collision with a vehicle. Any items within the town’s right of way will not be repaired or replaced.
The plow drivers appreciate it if you stay off the roads during a storm and while cleanup operations are taking place, if at all possible. Please give the plows the room they need to do their job, and remember that if you are too close to them your vehicle is extremely difficult to see. Enjoy the rest of fall, and let’s all try to make this winter safe and fun.
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Community Partners News
The Wells EMS Board of Directors meets every other month on the second Thursday, with no meetings in the months of July or August. Meetings start at 4:00 pm at the Public Safety Building in the main floor meeting room. Parking for the Public Safety Building is available on Main Street, on the grass lot behind the building. You can learn more about WEMS at their new website, wellsems.org.
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The Wells Chamber of Commerce is hosting their 8th annual Veterans Day 5K on Saturday, Nov 13, 2021 at the Wells Elks Lodge, 356 Bald Hill Rd in Wells. Start time is 10:00 am and all proceeds go to support the Honor Flight Maine. Register online for this great event!
The Historical Society of Wells and Ogunquit is pleased to announce that as a follow-up to his fascinating fall lecture and his sold-out cemetery tour in May, author Ron Romano will offer two more walking tours of Ocean View Cemetery on Saturday, November 6, at 11 am and 1 pm. Space is limited, so be sure to sign up soon. Ocean View Cemetery is located at 1485 Post Road (US Route 1) in Wells, across from the Middle School. |
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208 Sanford Road
Wells, ME 04090
207-646-5113
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