Boothbay Region Community Resource Council has a really cool idea for combatting local childhood food insecurity. Director of Operations Holly Stover sought Boothbay selectmen’s approval for housing a community refrigerator stocked with healthy foods. Stover reported food insecurity is a nationwide problem and the community refrigerator would provide easy access to healthy food for the region’s youth. “We are hoping to work with the town and others on this project,” Stover said. “In Maine, one in four children goes to bed hungry. Our goal is to keep it stocked with fresh, healthy food which will be labeled and to clean the refrigerator regularly.” 

BRCRC would seek a grant to buy a commercial-sized refrigerator and pay for a storage building behind the Boothbay municipal building. Stover reported the refrigerator would be stocked with fresh vegetables, breads and other foods. The council is also considering buying a freezer, according to Stover.

Boothbay selectmen authorized Town Manager Dan Bryer to work with Stover and the BRCRC board on the details. “I think this is an amazing idea and will have the board’s support,” Chairman Dale Harmon said.

In other action, selectmen approved Bryer to work with Ocean Point Inn President Tony Krason and neighbors on a plan for placing Jersey barricades on the shoreline. Krason told selectmen the storms had battered the shoreline for years. He proposed placing 18 Jersey barricades on the town’s right-of-way to protect Ocean Point Inn and a neighboring property. Krason reported a sea wall constructed in 1947 was ineffective and annual storm clean-up cost totaled an estimated $10,000. “This is about the destruction of property. I’ve been around here for 48 years and seen the damage caused by flooding and seaweed removal. What we propose are 18 Jersey barriers with each standing three feet high and weighing 2,400 pounds placed along the shore from October to May,” Krason said. 

Bryer also reported he is working with state and federal agencies to prepare the town to receive American Rescue Funds totaling $343,000. Earlier in the summer, Bryer and Selectman Mike Tomacelli attended a Lincoln County Regional Planning Commission meeting in Waldoboro outlining approved uses for the federal monies. “Many projects previously discussed by the board are eligible. So I think you are going to be quite happy,” Bryer said. 

Selectmen meet next at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 13 in the conference room.