NORWAY — With the impending retirement next week of Town Manager Dennis Lajoie, and no successor on the horizon, former Poland Town Manager Brad Plante will serve as the town’s interim town manager.
Plante was introduced at Thursday’s Select Board meeting. His term is open-ended, meaning he will serve as interim town manager for as long as it takes for the Select Board to hire a new town manager.
Brad Plante
The interim role is one Plante knows well. In the past couple of years, he has served as interim town manager in Buckfield and New Gloucester.
Plante told residents Thursday that his job will be like a relief pitcher in baseball who gets the call from the bullpen to keep the status quo and don’t let the other team score more runs.
“Our job is to keep the train on the tracks,” Plante said. “To keep the train rolling down the tracks. I don’t think you’ll see me making any major decisions or any major changes. Just like a reliever in the big leagues closing the game out.”
Lajoie, whose last day is April 30, had originally planned to retire this past December 2022, but has twice agreed to extend his retirement date to plan next year’s municipal budget.
The town warrant, which includes the $5.65 million budget, was adopted Thursday by the board for the upcoming annual Town Meeting scheduled for Tuesday, June 20. The Budget Committee had earlier this month unanimously approved the budget Lajoie had proposed.
A revised Street Vendor/Food Truck Ordinance was approved by the board and will go before voters at the Town Meeting. The major revisions include allowing trucks and vendors to operate year-round with no seasonal restrictions, a one-time application fee of $100 for the year or $20 for a single event, and allow hours of operation from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.
The board accepted the low bid of $56,925 from Flanders Electric Inc. in Norway to provide and install an 80 Kw generator for the Town Office. The town had received a 50/50 matching grant for the project through Maine Emergency Management Agency for up to $133,000.
The board also accepted a $300 donation from Joan Cummings to pay for a youth lifetime fishing license that will be awarded at the town’s annual fishing festival, which will be held June 3 at 8 a.m.
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