Otisfield committee thanked

OTISFIELD — Conservation Committee Chair Pixie Williams expressed thanks for the committee's commitment and willingness to work together during the May 2 selectmen meeting.

Though not all members were in attendance, Williams spoke of each member and what they bring to the table.

As of the committee's May 23 meeting, Jeff Stern will take over as Chair, said Williams.

"He's very highly-qualified to do so, and we are so delighted to have him," she said. 

She also praised Lee Dassler for her work with easements as coordinator of the Western Foothills Land Trust and for a "tremendous job with the Crooked River [initiative]."

Both Stern and Dassler's terms expire in June 2015.

Susan Feller, whose term expires next year, "is an unbelievably good secretary," said Williams, and Bob Blake, whose term also expires next year, "has worked zillions of hours out there and put his heart into these [hiking] trails."

Williams also said that Nick Edwards, a representative from Hancock Lumber™, is also very valuable.

"He knows a great deal about ... trails and things like that. He is a very good addition," said Williams.

"We are very proud of our group and the tremendous work [we've] done, and I just want to see this continue."

For several years, Williams served on the Casco Conservation Committee as a natural history advisor. There, however, the group was split, and several of the knowledgeable Conservation Committee Members also served on Open Space Committee, she said. 

"What happened there was sort of sad," she said. "The selectmen and town manager were tremendously cooperative; they helped us in innumerable ways. They brought environmental issues to us, and we responded to them.

"But the group," she said, "just didn't have it like our group. ... People with skills just faded away ... it sort of fizzled out." 

But the current group, she said, works very well together.

"I am so glad that we [now] have such a vibrant group," she said. "We are a pretty valuable group when you look at all the work that people have done."

In other news, the board:

• Heard thanks from resident Dave McVety for the town's support of the Social Outreach Committee, which gives residents an opportunity to fellowship at community luncheons and other town-sanctioned events. The next meeting is May 22, 10 a.m. at the East Otisfield Baptist Church.

• Nominated Selectman Lenny Adler to serve as a member of the Maine Municipal Association's Legal Policy Committee. Adler has been a member for nearly 30 years.