Three days after residents approved a $3,312,286 school budget, selectmen finalized a .017938 tax rate, which is a 3.4% reduction. Selectmen met during a special meeting Oct. 18 approving the new rate and electing a new chairman. Former chairman Jack Sarmanian retired earlier in the month. The remaining two selectmen chose Mike Smith as the new chairman. On Oct. 19, Smith began his tenure as the new chairman and discussed some old business. Smith and Selectman Ted Hugger discussed selling an undisclosed Lallis property parcel to a client represented by Clayton Pottle of William E. Raveis Real Estate Agency in Boothbay Harbor. 

The Lallis property is an 82-acre tract acquired by the town in 2004 through delinquent taxes. Earlier this year, the town sold a 3.3-acre parcel and a potential buyer hired the agency to negotiate a deal. A potential hurdle in the negotiations is the River Link Trail runs through the Lallis property. Selectmen are discussing a potential land easement with Boothbay Region Land Trust. 

Smith told Pottle the board has hired an attorney to research a potential right-of-way land easement agreement benefitting all parties. “I wish we had more information to give you, but the board will be short-handed for the next five meetings. We are working on it, but we need more time to bring all parties together to work out a deal,” he said.

Pottle told the board, “My guy is a pretty anxious buyer.”

In other action, Smith discussed a recent Boothbay Region Water District article in the Boothbay Register titled “Long-term solutions to the Boothbay Region’s water needs. Jon Ziegra’s article was in response to a letter which raised concerns about the recent drought’s impact on the local water supply. This inspired Smith to think about Edgecomb’s long-term water supply. The town is served entirely by private wells and septic systems except for Davis Island which contracts with Wiscasset. “What can Edgecomb do about global warming, climate change and the current drought? I would like to get a committee together and hear what the town wants to do about this,” Smith said. 

The two selectmen will wait until a third is elected in December before creating the committee. The same goes for another committee planning for Edgecomb’s next 250 years. In 2024, Edgecomb turns 250 and for the past year town officials have mulled assembling a committee to assess the town’s municipal needs. Edgecomb recently received a Lincoln County Regional Planning Commission grant for $2,000 to consider future town hall needs. “We want to explore new uses for the upstairs and a different set up for downstairs, but again, I think that needs to wait until a third selectman is in place,” Smith said. 

Selectmen meet next at 6 p.m. Monday, Nov. 2 in the town hall’s upstairs.