May 30, 2025
This week’s Sangerville business spotlight goes to Piscataquis County Collision.
A local auto body shop located on Douty Hill Road, specializing in comprehensive collision repair, accessory instillations, vehicle detailing and expert rust, dent and scratch repairs. At Piscataquis County Collision they are ASE certified, offer onsite rental and provide free estimates.
Their moto is a “One Stop Shop” and they really are. Gary and Drew are great to work with and can answer any questions you may have.
If you’re looking for any of these services give them a call 207-343-0308 or visit” Piscataquis County Collision” on Facebook.
May 27, 2025
Good morning Sangerville, I want to do a quick update on Maple St. as I have had some questions. Tomorrow and Thursday Scott Reynolds will be doing some prep work, culverts, ditching, etc. Unfortunately, there may be some dust and some delays, but we will do the best we can. Wednesday June 4th at the select board meeting we will be opening the sealed bids for paving. Once we award a contract, we will have a paver come in and do the shim and overlay as soon as they can do it. I will keep you all update.
Thanks
Brian
May 23, 2025
Good afternoon Sangerville, we have arrived at the Friday before Memorial Day Weekend, which many consider the unofficial start of summer. The temperature was 43 degrees on my way in to work this morning, so I would consider it a very unofficial beginning to summer. Memorial Day weekend to many in recent years has become a long weekend celebrating the transition of spring to summer with first trips to camp, barbecues, fishing trips, etc. all activities I enjoy as well but as with many holidays, we should all stop and take a minute to remember the purpose of Memorial Day.
Memorial Day began unofficially as Decoration Day following the Civil War with a purpose of placing flowers on the graves of those killed in the war. It eventually evolved into our current Memorial Day which has come to be a day when we remember all those who have passed on, particularly our war veterans and the sacrifices they made for the freedom of our nation.
It is usually the American Legion that places the American flags on the graves of veterans but our local Legion is doing the best they can to fulfill their mission with very few members, many who are quite elderly. I volunteered to make sure the veterans in graves in Sangerville had flags placed on them and Michelle and Kelsey volunteered to help. On Wednesday afternoon they placed flags on the veterans graves in the Bailey, Jackman Corner, Gilman, French’s Mill and Townhouse Rd. cemeteries. Yesterday with the help of Jennie from the Dover-Foxcroft Legion I did the Village and Knowlton’s Mills cemeteries. As a veteran myself it was very important to me that we get this done but earlier in the week to be quite honest, I was looking at it as a chore that I was not completely excited to do. As I was walking through our cemeteries, placing these flags and reading the tombstones, considering the lives of those passed veterans, it ceased to be a chore, and I realized it was a true honor to be doing this work. To think that 250 years later we are still showing respect due to a sixteen-year-old young man from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts that volunteered to fight for the freedom of our new country and then moved on to settle in Sangerville Maine is something in which to take great pride. Not to mention recognizing all those who have served in every conflict since then.
So, my Memorial Day message to everyone is enjoy the weekend to the best of your ability, no matter the weather, spend time with friends and families and enjoy the unofficial start of summer, but please take a minute to remember all of those who gave up a piece of themselves and their lives, or in some cases their very lives to stand up for America for the rest of us to be free. A great way to do that in Sangerville is to attend a brief ceremony conducted by the American Legion at the Veteran’s Memorial at 8:30 am Monday morning.
As we develop our business of the week plan here in the town office we are starting this week by recognizing Big Rock Center Pond Campground. I will leave it to Kelsey to provide our write up on Big Rock, I will just say Mike is a great guy and a proud citizen of Sangerville and we are happy to recognize their business.
At the select board meeting this week we decided to move forward with replacing the chassis of the fire department rescue truck. To recap that discussion we opted to buy a used truck, model year 2010 that is in great condition to replace the 1987 chassis which needs approximately $13,000 worth of work to pass inspection. We all agreed that to continuously throw money into a truck that old is not the best use of the taxpayer’s dollars. This plan has us transferring the rescue body, which is still in great shape to the new, (used), truck. We should be able to get another 5-10 years from this truck before it needs to be replaced, we can do this for approximately $25,000.00 from the fire department reserve account, so it will not impact taxes.
We also met with the engineer for the town hall project. The roof work should be complete in the next several days. We are in the process of evaluating what we can afford to do for the remainder of this year. We are in hope of securing some grant funding but delays in those programs look like it may limit what we will be able to do this year.
I spoke with Blaine yesterday afternoon and have some South Sangerville Grange news to pass on. Tomorrow evening, the 24th, from 7:00 PM until 9:00 PM, Wooden Project, a very good local blue grass group will be playing at the Grange. The price is $15 a person, it should be some great entertainment. They will also be doing their semi-annual bean hole bean supper on Saturday night the 14th of June, if you want to mark that on your calendars. Have a great Memorial Day weekend everyone and please remember the office will be closed Monday in celebration of Memorial Day.
Brian
May 23, 2025 - Sangerville Business Spotlight
This week’s Sangerville business spotlight goes to Bigrock Centerpond Park.
The park is open 9AM to sunset May through October. Bigrock is located on a beautiful 6.7-acre lot off McNaughton Hill Road. Bigrock Campground has 6 camp sites, a pool, Friday night karaoke, arts and crafts, a playground, board games, hiking and rock climbing activities. Firewood is for sale on site for $5.00 and ATV access to local trails. A two night minimum is required to reserve sites and a fourteen day maximum July and August.
A little history on the park- Established in 2019 by the Smith family whom has owned since 2005. This piece of property was once park of the land owned by the McNaughton family in the early 1900’s.
At one time the property housed cattle, pigs and grew apple trees. During nature walks you can find remanence of the old barn foundations and a large rock measuring 31.3 feet above ground.
If anyone has any questions, would like to book a campsite or just speak with Mike Smith call 207-717-2231 or visit “Bigrock Centerpond Park” on Facebook.
May 16, 2025
Good afternoon Sangerville,
A couple of announcements to start the post, I spoke with Jason Higgins, our parks and recreation committee chair this morning. He and I both want to again express thanks to all those who have been working on the park the last couple of weeks. It is prom weekend, and the gazebo is all prepped for those that choose to use it for photos. Also, on the topic of the gazebo, we have received a $6,500.00 grant from the Maine Community Foundation to do concerts at the park this summer. Thanks to Jason and Rhonda Taylor for their work on this grant as well as all the other volunteer work they and the rest of the parks and recreation committee do for the Town of Sangerville.
I have had recent email conversations with Brian Knowlton, the commander of the American Legion post in Guilford. There will be a brief Memorial Day Ceremony at the Veterans Memorial at 8:30 on Memorial Day. The American Legion is a great organization that does a lot for our veterans and remembering veterans no longer with us. That said, I know from conversations with Brian that the Guilford post does not have many active members, for that reason, I am volunteering to place the flags on the veterans graves in the Sangerville cemeteries this year and am planning to do that next week.
I have spoken with Chris and Warren, they are ready to start sweeping streets, intersections, etc. but they are waiting for the best weather conditions. We believe this next week will provide those conditions. Basically, we need enough light rain to keep the dust down but not so much rain as to create mud.
Several people have asked me about painting crosswalks. I am looking into that with the intention of getting it done early this summer if possible. I am just looking for the most cost-effective option.
The select board will be meeting this coming Wednesday at the fire station at 6:00 PM. One agenda item will be Steve Govoni, our engineer for the town hall will be here to meet with the select board and town hall committee so we have a clear working plan for the summer and all of us are on the same page. Another item of discussion will be the proposed plan to replace the chassis of the fire department rescue truck. Some select board meetings are mostly straight forward town business that many residents will not want to give up an evening and we understand that. This will be a good meeting to attend because there will be a lot of opportunity for discussion, and we want the people’s voices to be heard.
Another good meeting for everyone to get on their calendars is Wednesday May 28, at 6:30 PM at the elementary school in Guilford. The schedule the district provided to us is that this is the budget meeting and the information session on the budget is from 6:30 to 6:50 with the vote of the school board following that session. This is an opportunity for people to learn about the school district’s proposed budget before you vote on it in June. They are asking to increase the budget which translates to an increase in your property taxes. Now to be fair to the school district, their budget increase request may be completely valid and may even be conservative. There are many working parts to a school budget and we all know nothing in life is getting cheaper. My suggestion that you choose to attend this meeting is that unlike the town budget which I have to know intimately, I cannot answer questions accurately about the school budget. This meeting should give you better understanding to make an informed vote on the school budget on June 10th.
Finally, we just received a flood advisory from emergency management for Greenville, Monson, Blanchard, Elliottsville and Shirley for this afternoon. It doesn’t appear we have to worry about it as much in our corner of Piscataquis County but use caution if you are planning to go North this afternoon or evening. Have a great weekend everyone.
Brian
May 13, 2025
Good morning Sangerville,
I would like to update you all on a few items. Road grading has started. John did the Line Rd. yesterday, and I believe they are moving to the Burrough Rd. today. We have got the docks repaired and in the water at both ponds. Orman started mowing yesterday with the park and is planning to move to the village cemetery today. Alan Burgess and his group from the Recovery Center spent yesterday repairing and painting the dugouts at the park and did a great job.
I acknowledge with all the hats that go along with being town manager, my time in the office can be somewhat sporadic. As road commissioner, especially during the months we are doing work on the roads, I need to be out checking work and conditions on a regular basis. I am working on trying to set some days and times when I will be in the office that are consistent each week. At this point, I am trying to be in the office regularly nine to noon each weekday, except Wednesday, when we are closed, as well as Friday afternoons from two until five. I will be in the office other times as well, but I am going to try to always be here those days and hours and if not, I will post that I am not available those times. I do check my email first thing every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, I can be reached at tmsangerville@sangervilleme.com. I can also be contacted by phone or text at 279-6791. Hopefully everyone can enjoy the nice weather forecasted for this week.
Brian
May 9, 2025
Good afternoon Sangerville,
I hope everyone is enjoying this fine spring weather. For those of us that enjoy a nice quiet, rainy Saturday, tomorrow is forecasted not to be disappointing, after all, who needs a sunny Saturday. The good news this weekend is that Sunday, (Mother’s Day) is forecast to be quite nice.
We are doing everything we can with roads in spite of the weather. We replaced two cross culverts on the Line Rd. this week and will begin grinding the asphalt on that road next week. This road will have a reclaimed asphalt/gravel combination surface resembling a dirt road for the summer with a plan to repave in the fall. We were able to give the South Sangerville Grange Rd. some needed attention this week with another culvert replacement and much needed gravel to the surface. Road grading is scheduled to begin next week, and we will begin preparing Maple St. for paving late next week or the week after.
The select board met Wednesday evening, we had the continuation of our public hearing on condemning the building at 6 Mill St. as a dangerous building. After the hearing, during the regular meeting the select board voted unanimously to condemn the building. What that means in practical terms is that we take legal action that prohibits anyone from living in the building until the dangerous conditions are corrected. In these situations, it is the responsibility of the owner to correct those conditions. If not corrected in a timely manner the town has the option to take further action.
The other most significant topic of discussion was the Fire Department Rescue Truck. This truck, which is essential to safe operations of the Fire Department is a 1987, officially an antique, its inspection is due at the end of this month, and we believe the repairs required to get it to pass inspection will be in the range of $15,000.00. The situation is that the rescue body, although old, is in great condition, the truck it is sitting on is worn out. We believe the most cost-effective solution is to transfer the current rescue body onto a newer, high quality used truck, so that we can get another ten years out of this vehicle before we need to replace it. We believe this can be done for less than $25,000.00, which we have in the fire truck capital reserve account, that exists specifically for this purpose.
Hopefully everyone sees this week’s Piscataquis Observer. “Sangerville is on the move”, is the front-page story. Stuart did a great article on the positive direction in which we are moving in Sangerville. If you get a chance, please take a look at this article.
Michelle is on a much needed few days off, so Kelsey and I had a brainstorming session this morning. I know some will say that were a brain short and some might even say we were two brains short, but we did our best anyway and I believe came up with a few good ideas. We are considering a plan where we highlight a different Sangerville business each week. This would consist of us possibly putting up information about the business on signs or posters in the town office, perhaps on Friday wearing t-shirts or other attire of the business of the week, we would do an informative article about the business for the town website and include it in our social media. Our goal with this is to promote our Sangerville businesses in any way we can to help them and our local economy. We are hypothesizing that there are some businesses in town that many of our own residents do not know about and if we can help their business we want to do so. As with everything we do, we would really like some public input on this, especially from the business community. So please let us know your thoughts. You can email Kelsey at dtcsangerville@sangervilleme.com or me at tmsangerville@sangervilleme.com, or as always, please feel free to stop by the office and visit us. To all mothers, Happy Mother’s Day and I hope everyone has a great weekend.
Brian
May 5, 2025
May 1, 2025
Good afternoon Sangerville,
Another beautiful spring day today. The grass is getting green, so fortunately, the wildfire danger is decreasing. However, please remember to get a permit before doing any open burning.
The beginning of May usually brings the beginning of some of the best fishing of the season. With this in mind, we did some work on the Center Pond public landing road this morning, please remember if you use this landing that there is no public parking at the landing and the road adjacent to the landing is also private. Please be respectful of the private property owners if you use this landing. We will be putting the docks in at both Center and Mahanock Ponds, probably next week, we need to do some repair work on them before we can put them in the water.
We had a special select board meeting last night to open the grader bids. Lawson’s of Dexter was awarded the bid, and they will begin our spring road grading either the end of next week or the beginning of the week after.
We also held a public hearing that we advertised on condemning an unsafe building on Mill St. That hearing had to be continued because the owner is contesting any action on the building and neither she nor her legal counsel was able to be present last night. The hearing has been continued until next Wednesday evening at 5:00 PM at the fire station, just prior to the first scheduled monthly select board meeting in May.
The park and recreation committee met at the park on Tuesday evening to discuss upcoming work and plans for the year. The gazebo will be ready for prom pictures by the 17th. There are plans to do some maintenance work on some of the dugouts. We will be grading the road into the boat landing. We are also planning to build a one mile, loop walking trail around the park this summer and volunteers to do this work are welcome.
We are still in the planning work phase for the Two Knights Festival and parade on July 19th and again, volunteers and ideas are welcome. Enjoy the weekend, I understand we are going to get a break from the sunshine and warm temperatures again this weekend and have a few showers.
Brian
April 25, 2025
Good morning Sangerville,
It appears spring has finally arrived. Yesterday was a nice day, as today is supposed to be as well. Of course, it is supposed to rain all weekend once again, but at least they are not forecasting any snow.
Our road committee met last night, and we decided that it is now safe to take down our road postings, I am planning to remove signs this coming Wednesday the 30th. I noticed on my way into work this morning that MDOT has removed their signs on the Douty Hill Rd. We also discussed in detail next winters plowing and sanding contract, which I will be putting out an invitation to bid in the next couple weeks. We discussed Maple St.; our current plan is to begin prepping that for paving in the next two weeks. I will be preparing an invitation to bid on the paving for that in the same time frame.
Another sure sign of spring is that Stutzman’s has opened for the season. The downside to that is that I am really going to have to increase my exercise to offset the pizza and whoopie pies I regularly consume from there, but it is well worth it. It is great to have them open for the season.
Mike from Big Rock Center Pond Campground let me know they have done a big spring cleanup and are ready for the camping season. Also, on the topic of spring cleaning, Mid-Maine Solid Waste Association is having a free disposal day on Saturday May 3rd. You can get rid of up to 5 passenger vehicle tires, 1 refrigerator or air conditioner and 1 TV or computer monitor for free. You do need a current permit for Mid-Maine Solid Waste Association, which as a Sangerville resident you can purchase here at the town office for the cost of one dollar.
I want to remind everyone that we do have a public hearing scheduled for Wednesday April 30th at 5:00 PM at the fire station to hear public input on a dangerous building located at 6 Mill St. That will be followed by a special select board meeting at 6:00 PM that we scheduled, primarily to open bids for road grading for the town this summer.
Finally, I want to keep our Two Knights festival and parade this summer at least in the back of everyone’s mind. We would really like to get several floats in the parade and are discussing the possibility of having some trophies and prizes for some of the floats. To do that we really should have a theme for the parade. We are looking for ideas for a theme. If you have any ideas for a good theme, please contact Matt Blockler or me and let us know. Have a great weekend everyone, enjoy the rain.
Brian
April 18, 2025
Good afternoon Sangerville,
Tonight is the 250th anniversary of the famous midnight ride of Paul Revere, immortalized by the Longfellow poem. Although much myth surrounds the event, Revere did in fact ride from Charlestown, (now part of Boston) to Lexington and Concord to alert local militia. Revere’s home, the old North Church, Bunker Hill and the Charlestown Navy Yard are a few stops along the Freedom Trail in the North End of Boston, which is a great walk if you are visiting Boston on a nice day.
On April 19, 1775, British troops marched into Lexington and Concord to seize arms stockpiled by the colonists and arrest members of the Sons of Liberty. The colonial militia forced the British to retreat to Boston. To commemorate this event the Massachusetts legislature had declared the third Monday in April as Patriots Day, a legal holiday in Massachusetts. Sangerville being incorporated by the Massachusetts legislature on June 13, 1814, six years prior to Maine becoming a state, obviously has strong historic ties to Massachusetts.
In recognition of this Maine and Massachusetts state holiday, our office will be closed this coming Monday, April 21st. Also, of interest Patriots Day is the when the Boston marathon is run and the Red Sox always play at home that day with the game starting at 11:00 am so the crowd can leave Fenway and catch the end of the marathon. This is a busy day in downtown Boston.
On to news about Sangerville, after a recent post, I was asked what the Two Knights Festival is. The second annual Two Knights Festival will be held this year in Sangerville on Saturday July 19th. It will consist of a parade from the village cemetery to the veterans park, and then a day of events at the park with plenty of games for kids, touch a truck, a car show, live music in the gazebo, food and vendors. In the evening following all this, Two Knights Brewery will begin their outdoor summer music series with the Lynard Skynard tribute band “the Breeze”.
The purpose of this event is to celebrate Sangerville. It was conceived of last year by the Fire Department, and Friends of Sangerville Fire to help bring the town together after a very divisive spring in town.
This year, fortunately, we are celebrating a positive year in Sangerville. I told people when I accepted the town manager position last fall, my personal mission statement was to help turn “Angerville” back into Sangerville. I believe we have accomplished that goal together with more credit going to you the citizens of Sangerville than to me.
My new catch phrase, if one needs a catch phrase, is “Sangerville is on the move”. We had a very positive annual town meeting a couple of weeks ago, we have an active road committee and are getting started on some big road projects, roofers will be starting on the town hall, hopefully at the end of next week and the engineer is preparing for the next phase of the project. We are planning a big town wide celebration for July, and we are continuously looking for ideas to improve the town. I would say Sangerville is definitely on the move.
As I finish this post our fire department is working on its second wildland fire of the day, assisting Guilford on a fire in Parkman. I would like to remind everyone that a fire permit is required for open burning. You can get these online through the Maine Forest Service when weather conditions are permissible. Days like today are not good days to try to burn, it is windy with very dry conditions, a small fire can get out of hand quickly.
Have a safe and enjoyable Easter Sunday and Patriots Day.
Brian