Kings keep hearts beating in Mechanic Falls

MECHANIC FALLS — Writer Stephen King has written many horror novels in which hearts stop beating, but in reality, he and his wife Tabitha are helping hearts in Mechanic Falls to keep going.

The town's Rescue Unit wrote a letter to and received a donation from the Stephen and Tabitha King Foundation for $10,000 to purchase a new defibrillator for the town rescue truck. This piece of equipment was needed to bring the rescue unit up to the standard set by the state, and the cost of it was $10,700.

"This was a very nice gift," Hawley stated.

A casino impact meeting between elected legislators and municipal officials was postponed and rescheduled for March 18 at 10 a.m. in the South Paris Fire Station. The purpose of the meeting is to discuss potential solutions for dealing with negative impacts to regional communities from the presence of a casino in Oxford.

Town Manager John Hawley said, " this meeting is not an attack on the casino but an opportunity to work collaboratively with them. There will be some positives about having a casino at our back door. It will most likely up our property values as well as bring in jobs to our area."

The council voted to award two bids to area businesses for work that is being done due to an energy grant received for improvement of municipal buildings. The insulation of the pipes in the town office was awarded to High Tech Insulation Services Inc. of New Gloucester. The replacement of three electric hot-water heaters with two on-demand propane heaters for the fire station/public works garage and the town office was awarded to Nadeu's Refrigeration of Auburn. A recent thaw has led to the discovery that the town office building has some leaks that need to be addressed. There should be some more information on that at the next council meeting.

The budget proposal has been completed and has been given to the budget committee. The selectmen, Finance Director Lisa Prevost, Hawley and the budget committee will meet on March 16 to go through the proposal.

On April 6, all of the members will meet with the department heads to go over the budget together.

This year will be the first year that the budget will be voted on by secret ballot on voting day, June 14. Prior to voting day, there will be a public hearing June 1, at which Mechanic Falls residents will have the opportunity to adjust proposed numbers either up or down. Under this structure, even if the budget committee and the council agree on the numbers, the public can sway either group to change its recommendation. The board will then approve the article for the ballot on its meeting on June 6 .

The town will be plowing Riverside Drive next winter, in light of requests from the citizens of that road.

Property owners have been named on a deed releasing the private section of the road to the town for plowing for the next winter plowing season. All residents on the road need to come to the town office to have their signatures notarized on the same day for the release to be in effect. Some residents are vacationing, but it is hoped that the signatures will be completed by next week.

A Spaghetti Supper hosted by the Comprehensive Plan Committee was attended by approximately 50 people, who were part of small group breakout sessions. Attendees felt that the meetings were very productive and offered a lot of information and ideas for the committee to use. The committee will now formulate a plan to present to the town for ideas for the future planning of Mechanic Falls.