Boothbay Harbor selectmen

Selectmen get Boothbay Lights, Keep Maine Healthy grant updates

Tue, 09/15/2020 - 8:45am

Boothbay Lights, Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens and Boothbay Harbor Region Chamber of Commerce have drawn closer as holiday plans unfold, Lights Committee member Michael Maxim told Boothbay Harbor selectmen Sept. 14.

Said Maxim, “We have a really great partnership working together with both the Botanical Gardens and the Chamber of Commerce … We have met several times just in the past week and a half or so just to get the ball rolling.”

CMBG is working out final details of its drive-through Gardens Aglow. The 30-minute loop through the grounds will be priced by vehicle, not by person, Maxim added. While Gardens Aglow’s growing success faces a pandemic, Maxim said he expects the event will have first-time attendees who live closer.

Downtown, Harbor Lights Festival events will likely be broken up and spread out, though final plans have not been made.

The group will work with towns and businesses to offer opportunities visitors have always had, like photos in the Gardens and dining in restaurants, said Maxim. This may include photo opportunities throughout the area and a map of light show contest entrants, he added.

“… We're trying to keep events happening, but still practicing social distancing and doing things in the safest practice as possible. I think we're also trying to work out what some of those details mean … We didn't want to create a lot of new events. We wanted to maintain for this year as we're battling a pandemic … What's really important about the success of Boothbay Lights is the involvement of the whole community. That's both the business owners and the residents …”

Keep Maine Healthy

Boothbay Harbor has received about $89,000 in two rounds of Keep Maine Healthy grants, said Finance Officer Kathleen Pearce. About $30,000 has been spent and requests for June, July and August reimbursements have been submitted to the state.

“On top of the various hand sanitizers, and personal protective equipment, we have additional trashcans arriving on Wednesday,” said Pearce. “We also have about 25,000 individually wrapped masks arriving on Wednesday and those will be dispersed in holders around town and in businesses.”

A new transaction window for the police department and a bottle refill station replacement for the water fountain in the town office are in the works. Touchless hand driers and soap dispensers have been installed in all the town bathrooms and various other items are arriving daily, Pearce said.

Other announcements

Boothbay Harbor now has a licensing board for victualer licenses. Members are Town Treasurer (and Manager) Julia Latter, Town Clerk Michelle Farnham and all five selectmen.

Short two selectmen  – Chair Mike Tomko and Vice Chair Tricia Warren – the licensing board elected selectmen Wendy Wolf and Denise Griffin chair and vice chair. The board approved applications from Shannon’s Unshelled, Marcel’s Submarine Shop and Crow Point Herbal Apothecary Inc.

Paving for Kennyfield Drive and the top of Sun Set Road to the Crest Avenue intersection is set for Sept. 17 through Oct. 10 and, in the height of work, Kennyfield Drive will always be accessible by one lane of traffic, said Latter.

The footbridge project workshop is at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 17 in the Boothbay Region High School gymnasium and via Zoom.