Otisfield board to review timber lots

OTISFIELD — The Board of Selectmen will task the town forester with assessing the town’s timber lots to see if anything needs to be cut, Administrative Assistant Anne Pastore said.

Pastore said that at the board’s May 17 meeting board members mentioned that the town’s three large timber lots “haven’t been looked at in a while. They mentioned that it might be worth taking a look at the lots and seeing if any wood can be cut.”

She said that normally, town forester Bill Newcomb looks at the timber market to see whether certain trees are selling well, and then looks at the town’s timber lots to see if there are any trees that warrant cutting down.

“We haven’t talked to (Bill) in a while, and I’m not even sure if he’s still interested in being a forester, so the board agreed to give him a call and see if he can look at the state of the lots.”

In other business, Pastore said selectmen held a successful presentation of a proposed electronic sign in front of the Town Office before Wednesday’s meeting.

In January, Selectman Rick Micklon said he has been a proponent of an electronic sign to provide information to residents. He said Neokraft Signs in Lewiston proposed a black-and-white model for $21,859.

Pastore said NeoKraft brought a sign and set it up on the back of a pickup truck to show residents what it looked like.

“We had around 10 people who came to see it,” Pastore said. “NeoKraft calls it an ‘ICE sign.’ The letters only show up black with a white background, or white with a black background.”

Voters will decide on whether to approve the funds for the sign at their annual town meeting on June 24.

mdaigle@sunmediagroup.net