at a glance
Music from the Shak leads to possible noise ordinance

RUMFORD – Francois Parise told selectmen on Thursday that he has been battling with the noise coming from a nearby bar and he wanted something done about it.

“It wakes me up at 9 p.m., and I can’t get to sleep until after 1 a.m.,” the Byron Street resident said. “I’ve been fighting this since last summer.”

Selectman Mark Belanger said he also visited a household in the area and even with the doors and windows closed, the noise was extremely loud.

“You could feel the bass in his house,” he said.

Rumford Police Department Lt. Mark Cayer said the bar, known as the Shak, has a license and the issue is one that should be tackled by the Board of Selectmen.

That is one of the matters now under consideration, said Town Manager Steve Eldridge.

He has drawn up a draft noise ordinance, the first for the town, taken from state law and similar ordinances from other towns, then written to fit Rumford.

The draft ordinance will be introduced in April when the town hears requests for new ordinances. Then selectmen will decide whether to place it on the June town meeting warrant.

Voters will then have the final say.

In the meantime, Cayer said he will bring up Parise’s concern with Chief Stacy Carter to learn whether there is something that can be done.

– Eileen M. Adams
Plowing for nonprofits, sale of fuel, road salt may end

RUMFORD – For many years, the town has sold such items as fuel and road maintenance items to more than a dozen local businesses and nonprofit organizations.

The town has also routinely plowed the driveways and yards of SAD 43 schools located in Rumford at no cost to the district.

That may change when, and if, a draft internal controls policy is adopted by selectmen.

Town Manager Stephen Eldridge said on Friday that the auditor, Harold Blake of Hallowell, recommended ending these services as a way of better tracking municipal finances.

Selectman Mark Belanger on Thursday made a motion that was approved by the board to continue the service at least for the next few months. That may change, however, when the board acts on the policy sometime later in the winter.

Currently, the town sells fuel to Western Maine Transportation, Oxford County ARC, the Polar Bear Snowmobile Club for its trail grooming, SAD 43, Region 9 School of Applied Technology and the Rumford Water District. Materials, such as sand, salt, pipe, culverts and precast concrete are sold to Mills Landscaping, W.F. Porter, Swasey Construction, Thornton Farms, Gary Casey, T.W. Lawn Care, Community Energy, Tim Sicotte and the town of Byron.

– Eileen M. Adams