Affordable housing is an issue throughout Lincoln County, and to emphasize the state’s role in housing, Dan Brennan spoke at Lincoln County Regional Planning Commission’s annual meeting on April 21, held at the Wavus Campus in Jefferson. Mr. Brennan discussed current multi-family rental, homeownership, and supportive programs, painted the challenging picture of increasing prices of Lincoln County homes and apartments, and suggested a mix of strategies to create more housing (the presentation is available at www.lcrpc.org).

MaineHousing just announced the launch of a $20 million program to expand the availability of affordable rental housing in rural Maine. The Rural Affordable Rental Housing Program will provide funding to build smaller affordable rental housing units. Under the program, projects must be between five and 18 units in size and may either be new construction, rehabilitation of existing housing, or reuse of existing buildings into livable spaces for low- and moderate-income households. Information on the program can be found at www.mainehousing.org/ruralhousing.

At the start of the evening, Sam Kaplan, Kieve-Wavus Education Director, welcomed the LCRPC board and friends, highlighting food security projects that KW and the RPC have collaborated on. He also spoke about Kieve-Wavus’s Leadership School involving over 25 educators who will be in residency in Lincoln County and Midcoast schools this next school year.

During the meeting, the LCRPC presented certificates to three community projects, which demonstrated tremendous leadership and commitment of volunteers: the Nobleboro Comprehensive Plan Update Committee, the Damariscotta Waterfront Committee, and the Somerville Broadband Committee. The Commission over the years has benefited from the participation by a few individuals who are stepping down, from their role in their communities and/or on the LCRPC board. Three well-deserving individuals received certificates of recognition --  Matt Lutkus (retiring Damariscotta Town Manager), George Richardson (retiring Westport Island Selectman) and Ham Meserve (Lincoln County Commissioner, who has stepped off the LCRPC Board).  

An election of officers also took place at the meeting, with the following serving as officers for 2022-2023: Mike Tomko (Boothbay Harbor), chair; Marianne Pinkham (Nobleboro), vice-chair; Walter Voskian (Bremen), secretary; and George Parker (Newcastle), treasurer.