News
Selectmen
applaud Fire Department, condemn MMA
By John Schoen and Elizabeth Prata
New Gloucester--Fire Chief Gary Sacco received a letter
of recognition and adulation from the Board for his
and the entire Fire Department's efforts during a
two vehicle crash on Rt. 100 involving a fully loaded
propane tanker and a vehicle. The eleven-hour incident
involved over five towns responding as well as the
Cumberland County Hazmat team. It also involved apparatus
from Boston, which helped drain the propane from the
full tanker. No major injuries were reported and the
incident was cleared with no property damage either.
Although the cause of the crash has not been finalized,
the citizens in the area have long-stated a concern
about speeding on Rt. 100 and on other local roads,
including Intervale Road where there are many residences
and pedestrians.
Vaughn Hardesty, a resident of New Gloucester, spoke
to the Board about tankers speeding through the village.
The speed limit is 45 mph past Memorial School, then
drops to 30, making it difficult for bigger vehicles,
especially those with cargo, to slow as the go down
the hill to the appropriate speed. He recommended
to the Board that the town purchase cameras that record
speed and the licenses of those vehicles breaking
the speed limit - which could be less expensive than
hiring an officer, an option voted down at town meeting
in May.
Selectmen agreed that while speeding was an issue,
the concern was not the technology, but the money
to purchase any instrumentation and whether or not
this type of action requires state legislation.
Hardesty then asked, "What do we do in the meantime?"
- to which he suggested towable signs that announce
one's speed as a deterrent, community signs that plead
with motorists that while they are welcome to the
village they certainly should not speed, a speed assessment,
and finally, an actual police officer.
The Board will ask other towns how each of these methods
may help reduce any speeding problems thay experience.
New Gloucester Code Enforcement Officer Deborah Parks
spoke about Enhanced 911. The Town will need to go
through the State to reassign addresses around Rt.
26 to make it easier for EMS to reach locals.
The final piece of business involved a decision about
accepting the slate of officers for Maine Municipal
Association. Libby has often expressed his negative
feelings about the Association and again expressed
his contempt Monday night for the MMA president without
going into specifics.
He mumbled a few things and was not very clear why,
and the Board decided to leave the check box on the
ballot unchecked. There is no challenger. Selectman
Stephanie Bryan wanted to be sure that MMA got the
message and simply didn't think that they had forgotten
to check the name.
