Board: Minot Selectmen

Met: Monday night

Posted roads

Issue: MDOT officials have posted Route 124 from West Minot village to Route 117 in Buckfield, forbidding heavy trucks and equipment from traveling the road without a permit until further notice.

The scoop: Road Manager Arlan Saunders told selectmen that the road was paved last summer, and it appears highway officials, faced with shrinking paving budgets, are trying to extend the life of this and other roads across the state.

Cemetery care

Issue: Now that the town has assumed care of most of the 26 cemeteries within its boundaries, what part will individual residents play in their upkeep?

The scoop: Chester Jackson, who asked the question, was told that his continued assistance caring for the Dean Cemetery would be greatly appreciated. The cemetery is one of the oldest in town. The headstone for Sarah Little dates to 1801, a year before Minot became a town. Jackson has cared for the cemetery, which abuts his property, for years and will continue doing so.

Vernal pools

Issue: Selectmen learned that vernal pools in Minot Community Park must be surveyed before the Maine Department of Environmental Protection will issue a site location permit to allow further development within the park.

The scoop: Recreation Committee member Candace Gilpatric informed selectmen that she has learned that the vernal pools, located in an upland section of land near the Minot Consolidated School, must be surveyed to establish their exact size and what creatures are dependent upon them. Regulations require 250-foot buffer zones be established around vernal pools as they are important. Vernal pools are important and sensitive breeding areas for a number of woodland creatures, and April is prime time for investigating what’s going on in them.

Up next: The Recreation Committee will contract with a biologist to conduct the survey, at a cost estimated to be $3,000.