On Tuesday, Jan. 14, at 5 p.m. at the Southport Town Hall, Danielle Betts from Knickerbocker Group conducted a public hearing concerning the amendments to the master plan to renovate the Cuckolds Lighthouse at the entrance to Boothbay Harbor.

In 2006 the Cuckolds Council obtained ownership of the lighthouse and the surrounding land from the United States General Services Administration and began to renovate the building. The amendments are necessary to satisfy the historical parameters and to solve the problem of running water and electricity to the island and sewage from the island.

Many neighbors and friends had hoped the water, electric and sewage problems could be solved without running pipes through Newagen Harbor, but the current plans continue to contain that route with the cement blocks acting as conduits visible at low tide and perhaps causing problems for boaters at all tides.

Since this column had to be submitted before the meeting was held, your columnist will have to report on the substance of the meeting next week. The plans discussed at the meeting are available at the Southport Library and the Southport Town Hall.

The Southport Memorial Library was somewhat quieter this morning as by 10:30 a.m. when I left the children had not yet come. Kathy Barter, who usually has activities planned for this preschool group, was tending her husband, Allen, who was taken first to Miles Hospital and then to Maine Medical Center for evaluation concerning his heart. The chilly rainy morning may also have kept the children away as Kathy had asked Pam to set into her place.

As usual the group around the table at the library was lively. Perhaps it was the many luscious-looking chocolate items and cinnamon buns on the table along with the coffee that revived up conversation and songs. Reaching back into his memory Tom Lally called to our minds the streets in New Orleans favored in songs such as Basin Street and Beale Street and the activities thereon.

On much more serious subjects I learned that Greg Foster, who is one of three pastors at the Southport United Methodist Church, lost his wife Carolyn, who has been ill with Alzheimer’s disease.

Russ Jackson called to our attention to the piece by William Keating from the January 11 Boston Globe saying that that maps showing the new flood plains were drawn from a Pacific coast flood pattern. Since Atlantic coast flooding usually comes from different water patterns, that pattern may not be applicable to us. The concern for Southport property owners is not only flood damage, but also increased flood insurance premiums or the inability to get insurance at all.

A sad warning was to anyone who owns a Lane or Virginia Made cedar chest manufactured between 1912 and 1987. Be sure to remove or exchange the lock such that the chest can be opened from the inside. Two children died in such a chest during last Saturday’s Patriots game, when they couldn’t get out.

Back to the brighter side, if you have always wanted the erudite look of owning and displaying a set of Harvard Classics, the 52 book series that Charles W. Eliot in the early 1900s determined were the best books in the world, Donald Duncan, having already clearly demonstrated his eruditeness, has such a set to give you. Warning, the set takes up about five feet of shelf space.

The Southport Central School children have been skating on the school pond, a scene to rival any that Grandma Moses painted.

As the holiday season recedes and winter life settles in you can find friends and neighbors at Robinson’s Wharf on late afternoons and evenings from Wednesdays through Saturdays, opening at 3:30 p.m. and closing about 8:30 p.m. Friday evenings will feature music.

Some dates to mark on your calendar: Monday, Jan. 20, the Southport Library Aides will host their annual Souper Bowl luncheon at the Southport Town Hall. Note that the opening time is 11:30 a.m., not 11 a.m. as reported last week, until 1 p.m.

Also be sure to attend that important meeting on January 28 at 4 p.m. at the Southport Post Office when officials from the USPS will report on the survey results concerning the fate of our Southport Post Office and to hear our comments. If you haven’t yet sent in your survey, please do.