The Board of Selectmen voted to hold a Special Municipal Election on February 2, 2010

to fill the vacancy on the Select Board made by the resignation of Steve Ciembroniewicz. Nomination papers are now available at the town office and must be filed with the Town Clerk by 6 pm on Wednesday, December 23.

Item 1: On November 17th Steve Ciembroniewicz resigned from the Board of Selectmen. Steve was first elected to the Board in January 2007 to fill the vacancy left by Seth Berry who had just been elected to the State House of Representatives. Steve ran unopposed in June 2008 and served until his resignation. It has been a pleasure to work with Steve – he will be missed!

Item 2: In addition to Steve’s resignation, Community and Economic Development Director Tony Cox resigned in November. Tony worked for the town for over three years and his accomplishments include the promotion of local businesses and particularly the Buy Bowdoinham campaign, building awareness of locally grown food with the development of Bowdoinham’s Farmers Market, as well as broadening and expanding the participation of Celebrate Bowdoinham. Tony will certainly be missed not only for his contributions to the Town but also for his infectious personality!

Item 3: Giving Tree – The Giving Tree is in full swing thanks to Town Clerk Pam Ross. Anyone with requests for gifts must call Pam at 666-5531 by December 11. How does the Giving Tree work? First, requests are given to Pam Ross who makes out tags (red gingerbread men) for each item requested. The tags are then hung on the Giving Tree located at the Town Landing Restaurant. Residents who wish to purchase a gift need to go to the restaurant and pick a tag off the tree. Once the gift is purchased, it must be brought to the restaurant (or town office) unwrapped along with the gift tag. Pam picks up the unwrapped gifts for safe keeping at the town office. Gifts are sorted by family and placed in boxes ready to be picked up. Once all of the gifts are purchased, Pam calls the families. This all occurs before December 18th! Last year we helped 18 families for a total of 39 children!

Item 4: Planner Nicole Briand reports that the proposed rail/trail from Gardiner to Topsham commonly referred to as the Merrymeeting Trail is gaining more momentum thanks to a $20,000 grant from the Maine State Planning Office as well as a grant from the National Park Service to provide technical assistance. The group meets on the second Monday of each month at 11 am at the Bowdoinham town office. Please join the group and help make this trail a reality!

Item 5: Fire Department News - Congratulations to Captain Arthur Frizzle and Firefighters Jeremy Moeller, Rick Ellis, and Danny Skelton for completing their Firefighter I & II Certification Training. The training takes over 200 hours of classroom time to complete: one weekend per month and one night per week. This is a huge commitment from these volunteer firefighters and they deserve our congratulations and a big thank you!!

Item 6: Recreation Director Brooke Cox reports that Village Seniors here in Bowdoinham are very active! Last month 9 friends traveled north to Augusta and visited the Maine State Museum. On December 17th come enjoy a yummy dinner at the 2nd Baptist Church; social hour is at 11:00 am with the meal being served around 11:45. If you would like to participate in a Yankee Gift Swap, please bring a small wrapped item of $2.00 or less. Some would also like to put together a food basket to donate to a family in the area in need; if you would like to bring a food item to add to the basket that would be greatly appreciated!

Item 7: Winter snow and ice removal – Have you ever wondered how the Public Works Department goes about removing snow and ice from the roads? I asked Public Works Director Kevin Prout to explain the process. Kevin reports that after approximately one inch of snow has accumulated, all of the public works and subcontractor vehicles are deployed. The first step is to plow all main roads and apply a sand-salt and liquid calcium mixture to the roads to prevent the snow from bonding to the pavement. This step is extremely important since keeping the snow from bonding to the pavement early in the storm allows the snow to be removed much easier throughout the storm’s duration and afterward. Each plow truck has its own route which usually takes two to three hours to complete and before the route can again be repeated. After the storm ends all roads are sanded and final clean up of all intersections are done. The following day, the crews spend pushing the snow banks back to make room for future storms!

Item 8: While the Public Works Crew and our Subcontractor do their best not to hit mailboxes (really!) while plowing, if a mailbox is hit, we will gladly repair it and if it is not repairable, we will replace the box. Please give us time to make the repairs as it may take up to a week depending on the winter weather conditions. We will not pay you for the mailbox to be repaired or replaced – we provide the materials and labor. This is a policy of the town and is not required by law. In fact, most towns do not repair or replace mailboxes since the mailboxes are considered to be within the right-of-way. However, this is a service that we plan to continue for our residents – thank you for your patience and understanding!

Item 9: Recreation Director Brooke Cox reports that the third and fourth grade and fifth and sixth grade basketball games begin at the Bowdoinham Community School on December 12th. The games begin at 9 am. The 5th grade class will be selling refreshments and holding a bottle drive to help fund their Boston Field Trip.

Item 10: Brooke also reports that the ice rink next to the recreation fields is full of water (thanks Ray Mayo for looking after our rink!) and now all we need is some cold weather! The Pertel Field dugouts that Hooper Construction built are in place at the rink to provide cover for those putting on skates or watching the skaters…thanks Hoopers… Jack Tourtelotte took the lead on shingling the roof to add a little more protection from the weather. Thank you Jack for sharing your expertise and time!

Item 11: Home Heating Assistance – We began processing applications on November 2nd and so far we have helped 13 Bowdoinham families. Applications are reviewed and processed each Monday for a Tuesday or Wednesday oil or propane delivery. Each applicant is also required to apply for LIHEAP through the Kennebec Valley Community Action Program. If you are in need of heating assistance, please come to the town office for an application. This program is funded through fundraising efforts and donations only.

Item 12: A reminder that Dog Licenses are due by December 31st of each year. Neutered: $6; Un-neutered: $11

Item 13: The 2010 Hunting and Fishing Licenses are now available to purchase. These make terrific gifts!

Item 14: More gift ideas from the town office: reduced priced movie (regal cinema) tickets, t-shirts, trash tickets and recycling bags!

Item 15: The town office will be closed Thursday and Friday, December 24 & 25 for Christmas and Friday, January 1st for New Year’s Day.

In closing, I wish to thank the many volunteers who have helped us out this year. The number of folks who volunteer in Bowdoinham is truly exceptional. While I can’t possibly mention them all by name, I would like to give a very special thank you to Peter Sullivan – Peter is the person who keeps our town sign updated each week. I have witnessed Peter at all hours of the day and in the worst of weather changing the letters on the board forming the messages that keep us all informed of the town’s news. Thank you Peter!

Wishing you all the best during this holiday season –

Kathy Durgin-Leighton
Town Manager