Local Southport artist Mike Lewis has until Friday, May 6 to clean up items that are too close to the pavement at his Cross Road property.

Selectmen signed the letter to Lewis at their regular meeting on Wednesday evening. The notice was expected to be delivered by Gerry Gamage immediately after the meeting adjourned.

Instructing Lewis to “...commence immediately and without delay,” the town requires him to move all items to at least 10 feet from the edge of the pavement because the “general collection” of “vehicles, trailers, boat parts” and other materials has become a public safety matter by encroaching on the roadway.

Lewis is instructed to move all items back to a distance of “no less than 10 feet from the pavement.”

In other news from the meeting, the town’s contribution to Lincoln County taxes is $ 787,925.25 for an increase of approximately $1,400 over the previous year. The amount includes Southport, Capitol and Squirrel islands. Selectmen said the amount is third among the largest items of the town’s budget, following the school and municipal budgets.

Southport’s harbormaster Jim Gagnon informed the selectmen that the island’s harbors will benefit from the Maine coastal mapping initiative. The program, administered by the state Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, uses sonar to map the shape and composition of the seafloor.  

The mapping project is focused on the area around the mouth of the Kennebec River and Seguin Island. However, when the weather is too rough, the 35-foot boat can’t go out to the area and so Gagnon was contacted about using the equipment for Southport’s harbors.

There will be no charge to Southport and on rough sea days the equipment will be used to map the seafloor of Cozy Harbor, Townsend Gut and Decker’s Cove.

Gagnon is pleased with the project. “I can have more accurate information about where current and discarded mooring blocks are located,” he explained.

The project will continue through the summer.