Mission accomplished for the team of Emma McKearney and John Oakes as they received approvals from two selectboards to adopt the 2026 Lincoln County Hazard Mitigation Plan Update. Deputy Director McKearney of Lincoln County Emergency Management Agency and Boothbay region EMA Director Oakes first met with Southport selectmen, then Boothbay's board, Feb. 11, and secured adoption of the plan's update.

McKearney told both boards the county's hazard mitigation plan was created in 2016 and updates occur every five years. With the adoption, the towns now become eligible for additional state and federal grants.

In other action, Southport selectmen received a letter from Boothbay Region Refuse Disposal District and Giles Rubbish regarding their price increases. "While we have tried to keep our rates as low as we can without overburdening our customers, costs for providing these services have increased drastically due to the historically high inflation," according to the letter.

Effective March 1, the district and Giles Rubbish seasonal and commercials accounts will increase by $2 and dumpsters will increase by $1 per pickup. Rentals will stay the same. Recycling pickups will increase by $1. "This will be our first recycling increase since 2017, and our handload cardboard pickups will also increase," according to the letter.

Larger roll-off cans will increase by $5 per week on rentals and the hourly rate for roll-off service increases by $50 per hour. "We value our customer relationships. We wanted to let you know we do offer every other week schedules, or just 'on-call' as well," the letter stated. 

Selectmen approved two town hall rental requests. Anita Sherman received approval for a Christmas Eve dinner. Mari Tiwari received approval for Friends of Southport Historical Society's annual meeting on June 15.

Midcoast Maine Community Action sent a request for a $550 donation. Selectmen meet next at 5 p.m. Wednesday, March 18 in the town hall.