CANTON — Selectmen Thursday stated that the school board election for the new “Dirigo RSU” would be held on Jan. 24 at the Town Office.

The hours are tentatively set for 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. The actual name of the new RSU has not yet been provided by the state.

On Nov. 8, the towns of Canton, Carthage, Dixfield and Peru withdrew from RSU 10. They previously made up School Administrative District 21, but in 2011 joined with School Administrative District 43 in Rumford and SAD 39 in Buckfield to form RSU 10 under the state-mandated school consolidation law.

The towns’ withdrawal effort was prompted by a belief they would save money and have more local control.

The remaining RSU 10 towns are Hanover, Buckfield, Sumner, Hartford, Byron, Mexico, Roxbury and Rumford.

According to Selectman Brian Keene, the school board has two positions available, one for a one-year term and another for a three-year-term. Nomination papers for the positions were due by Friday, Dec. 9.

In other news, Administrative Assistant Scotty Kilbreth said the town recently received renewal notices from Electricity Maine. The decision was made not to renew the nine accounts with the provider.

“We have 12 accounts, nine of them are with Electricity Maine and we’re paying over 11 cents a kilowatt hour, the other three that are not in this (Central Maine Power accounts) are paying 6 cents, so I called them up and told them we’re not renewing our contract,” Kilbreth said.

The company then offered a 6 cent rate but Kilbreth declined, saying the company should have made the offer last year.

Earlier this year, the Stephen and Tabitha King Foundation awarded the town a $1,000 grant toward the purchase of a new AED unit.

“The town of Canton is pleased to announce the addition of a new AED (Automated External Defibrillator) system at the Town Office,” Deputy Clerk Kathy Walker said in a memo. “With the many customers of varying ages entering our office, the need to be able to provide emergency care until Med-Care could arrive on scene was of top priority.”

In other business, Recreation Committee member Phyllis Ouellette spoke with selectmen about an email marketing program called Constant Contact. Ouellette said the program would be useful to keep people updated about the town’s Bicentennial Committee planning and it could also be used by the Recreation Department and the Town Office.

The program automatically sends messages to contacts and manages and tracks users. It also has the ability to note whether a user is using a mobile device or desktop computer.

The benefits of the program would be “increased exposure to our events, allowing for more community involvement, awareness, and increased sales,” she said. “The program would also save time and money.”

The selectmen agreed with Ouellette and approved the purchase of the email marketing program.

Selectmen Donald Hutchins and Malcolm Ray were absent from the meeting.

mhutchinson@sunmediagroup.net

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