Author: Town Manager

Town of Norway Happenings

Covid-19 and Town Services update – We are taking appointments so that we can help you register your vehicles, boats, and conduct other Town services – Please call us at 743-6651. We will be asking you if you can complete the service on line, by mail, drop box etc, before scheduling an appointment. We do miss all of you and hope everyone is doing well. We are scheduling appointments daily.

7/2 – Selectboard Meeting at 7pm- at the Town Office and via ZOOM – We will utilize the large conference room which can hold 10 people using social distancing.

Join Zoom Meeting:

https://networkmaine.zoom.us/j/88512935784

or Call in at:

1 -646-876-9923 (Meeting ID: 88512935784 )

Month of July – Road work – Culverts to be replaced on Norway Center Road and Round the Pond Road. Beal Street to be repaved and line painting on Beal and some side will be done after paving.

July 20 at 7pm at the Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School – Annual Town Meeting. Enter from the Cafeteria side of the School. Based on the number of people attending will may be using multiply rooms. We will be using the auditorium as the main hub, the forum and another room based on social distancing and having no more than 50 attendees per room. We will be able to broadcast to all rooms at the same time as well as to hear and respond to questions and comments in real time. Click here for Memo from the Town Manager.

2020 Primary Election on July 14 – Message from Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap –

TOWN OF NORWAY

ELECTED OFFICE VACANCIES

SELECTMAN                                                                        2 – 3 YEAR TERM VACANCIES

SAD #17 DIRECTOR                                                            1 – 3 YEAR TERM VACANCY

TRUSTEES OF NORWAY MEMORIAL LIBRARY         2 – 3 YEAR TERM VACANCIES

NOMINATION PAPERS FOR THOSE SEEKING TO FILL THESE VACANCIES ARE AVAILABLE AT THE TOWN OFFICE MARCH 2.  NOMINATION PAPERS MUST BE RETURNED TO THE TOWN OFFICE NO LATER THAN APRIL 10 WITH AT LEAST 25 AND NOT MORE THAN 100 SIGNATURES OF NORWAY REGISTERED VOTERS.  PERSONS RETURNING NOMINATION PAPERS, CONTAINING PROPER SIGNATURES, WILL BE PLACED ON THE JUNE 9, 2020 ELECTION BALLOT.

Emerald Ash Borer

Maine Quarantine on Emerald Ash Borer Announced
April 17, 2019
For more information contact: Gary Fish at 207-287-7545
Augusta, ME – The Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry has announced a formal quarantine on emerald ash borer (EAB) and material that may harbor it.
The quarantine area includes all of York County and the northeastern corner of Aroostook County. The quarantine boundaries were drawn to include a buffer on those towns where EAB had been detected. EAB was found in northern Aroostook County in May 2018 and in western York County in September 2018. An emergency order has been in place to limit movement of infested ash from areas where the pest has been found since those discoveries.
Quarantine rules prohibit movement of ash nursery stock from the quarantine area, and regulate the movement of hardwood firewood, hardwood chips and other ash products with bark, such as logs and pulp, and untreated ash lumber. Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry staff, in partnership with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Plant Protection and Quarantine are working with the public and impacted industries to ensure compliance with the quarantine.
“A quarantine can help slow the spread of this destructive insect into uninfested areas,” said State Entomologist Allison Kanoti. “That gives businesses, Native American craftspeople and artists that use ash as well as homeowners, landowners and municipalities who care for ash across the state additional time to consider their options and make plans for a future with EAB.”
That future will include far fewer ash trees. Maine forests have more than 400 million white, green, and brown ash trees at risk. Ash is also an important street tree in towns and cities. EAB is an invasive wood-boring beetle that attacks ash trees by disrupting the flow of water and nutrients causing the tree to die. Native ash trees have little resistance to attack, and often die within a few years of initial arrival of the beetle. EAB was first discovered in North America in 2002. Since its arrival, it has killed hundreds of millions of ash trees.
White ash shows some resistance to and tolerance of attack by EAB. A fraction of those trees may be able to survive in the presence of EAB. The US Department of Agriculture has been working on a program to provide ash with another form of defense-tiny wasps from Asia that attack the eggs or young of EAB and may eventually bring their populations to a tolerable level.
Despite these glimmers of hope, EAB will devastate ash in Maine. Cities and towns from New England through the Midwest report damage to infrastructure such as power lines and hazards to people related to the deterioration of ash trees attacked by this insect. Ash will be lost as a functional part of forest ecosystems, joining the ranks of American elm and American chestnut. Ash will no longer be available as a material for forest products including baseball bats, baskets, tool handles, flooring, cabinetry and others. The goal of the quarantine is to slow the spread of the insect to delay impacts to the ecosystem, native culture and economy.
Additional information on EAB, how to recognize and report its damage, and details of the Maine ash quarantine, can be found at http://www.maine.gov/eab.

Public Information Meeting on Bridge Deck Replacement

Public Information Meeting

Tuesday 2/25/2020 at 6pm

Norway Town Office

19 Danforth Street

Please join MaineDOT for a preliminary public meeting to discuss the deck replacement of Pleasant Street Bridge (#2677) over Pennesseewassee Stream. Located 0.06 of a mile southwest of Pleasant Street, Norway, Maine.

Representatives of the Maine Department of Transportation (MaineDOT) will be present on Thursday to gather input, listen to concerns, receive comments, and answer questions from anyone with an interest in the project.

MaineDOT is particularly interested in learning local views relative to project consistency with local comprehensive plans, discovering local resources, and identifying local concerns and issues. Anyone with an interest is invited to attend and participate in the meeting.

Accommodations will be made for persons with disabilities. Auxiliary aids will be provided upon advanced request.

Any inquiries regarding this project may be directed to the attention of Mark Parlin, Project Manager, Maine Department of Transportation, Bridge Program, 16 State House Station, Augusta, Maine 04333-0016. Telephone: (207) 624-3449 or by e-mail at Mark.Parlin@maine.gov.