Dresden will continue its Community Partnership with Wiscasset Community Center/Wiscasset Parks and Recreation Department. The Dresden select board received a letter from Director Dwayne Goud reminding the town of the fee due for the town to continue as a Community Partner.

In the letter, Goud said “some of the benefits of Community Partnership are: participation in Community Partner Days, where the use of the center is available to all residents and community partners at no cost and no membership required (every third Sunday of the month from October through April); reduced day fees; reduced facility rental rates; membership and programming scholarship consideration and reduced rates for most programs offered by the Wiscasset Parks and Recreation Department including youth sports, camps aquatics and adult programs.”

In an email to the board, Goud stated, “From the time we started with MyRec (2015) we have had the great privilege of serving over 600 different residents from your town of Dresden, taking advantage of the reduced rates for our Community Partner Towns.

“Over 130 memberships were taken out by the residents of Dresden” in 2022; $5,000 the town pays “would be a rate of approximately $2.90 per resident.” This amount was approved at last year’s town meeting and the check is in the mail, Town Administrator Daniel Swain told Wiscasset Newspaper over the phone.

A survey was mailed to residents on Friday, Jan. 6. According to the survey, the planning board is looking for feedback to be considered in the development of an ordinance concerning commercial or industrial land use by Solar Energy Systems. There will be a public hearing at 6:30 p.m. Jan. 25 at Pownalborough Hall to discuss the results and a moratorium on solar developments. The survey needs to be back by Jan. 18.

Fred Brewer, the town’s current auditor, presented a rough draft of an audit for the year ending June 30, 2021 to the board during the meeting. Later in the meeting, Swain said a request for  proposals (RFP) had been put on Maine Municipal Association’s (MMA) website looking for an auditor to fill a five-year contract.

The select board received notice from Josh Watson, the contractor currently plowing town properties, saying he would need to raise his rate 15% of the annual cost if the town also wanted him to plow the Water Department. In a phone interview, Swain explained that plowing the Water Department was not part of Watson's original contract. The board had offered Watson a 5% increase. They discussed the possibility of seeking other contractors but decided to go with a counter offer of 10%.  

The board approved hiring town clerk Breanne Lavessuer, who started on Jan. 3. The board received positive feedback from Swain on the newly contracted I.T. company, The Com Doctor from Chelsea, and expects to hear soon from the school board on the new perintendent.