ADDISON NEWS
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We now have an Addison Days Committee!!!!  If you would like to help please contact either Tom Batson or Fran Havey.

THIS YEARS TOWN MEETING WILL BE HELD ON MARCH 8TH, 7 P.M. AT D.W. MERRITT SCHOOL. HERE IS THE 2015 TOWN REPORT

NEW FIRE STATION CONSTRUCTION COMPLETED

The Addison Volunteer Fire Department has moved into its new home located on East Side Road. Special thanks to the Construction Committee for doing such a great job and to the residents of Addison for digging deep into their pockets to fund it. It was sorely needed and now the fire fighters will have a safe, heated building with running water......Life is good. Thanks also to the Selectmen and Betsy Fitzgerald for overseeing the project.

DINO'S BOAT FINALLY SETS SAIL
For all of you who knew Dino and know Cathy Fonda, I am happy to report that Dino's dream is complete and his boat has finally set sail. Here is a link to the Bangor Daily's coverage of the event. Congrats to Dino who I'm sure is smiling down from heaven.

 http://bangordailynews.com/2013/11/11/news/midcoast/ship-inspired-by-mans-faith-in-god-to-set-sail-sunday-for-mission-trips-after-years-of-work/?ref=search

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 HERE IS THE NEW TOWER. THANKS TO ALL FOR YOUR DONATIONS.

A crane lifted the 152-year-old belfry off the roof of the Church on the Hill on Ridge Road in Addison on December 13th and set it on the ground in one piece. It will soon be put on a flatbed truck and taken to Hull’s Cove on Mt. Desert Island where it will spend this winter indoors being restored by the contractor, R. L. White & Son, Inc. Next Spring, after a new roof is put on the church building, a crane will hoist the restored belfry back up to where it belongs on top of the church building.

Fully restoring the belfry to its original condition and re-roofing the building to make it weather-tight are significant steps in the complete rehabilitation of the Church on the Hill. The building was built in 1860 and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1996. The building is now owned by the Friends of the Church on the Hill which organized as a Maine nonprofit corporation in 2007 for the purpose of raising funds to rescue and restore the building. After restoration, the building, which will no longer be used as a church, will be made available as a community asset for public and private meetings and functions of all kinds.

Prior to 2007 the building had been abandoned and was in danger of deteriorating beyond the point of no return. To become the owner of the building the Friends petitioned the Maine Attorney General to bring a lawsuit to have title to the abandoned church building transferred to the Friends. On July 15, 2009, the Maine Superior Court, finding that the Church on the Hill was an abandoned church and was wasting for lack of custody, ruled in the Friends‘ favor. The Friends then obtained tax exempt status from the IRS and began fundraising to rehabilitate the building.

The current building is the third building on the site.  The first building on the site was the earliest recorded church structure in Addison when it was built around 1789, eight years before Addison was incorporated in 1797. The original building was blown down in a gale wind in 1839. The second building was built around 1839, but was struck by lightning and burned to the ground in 1860.  Local funds were then raised to build the building which still stands. The building's location is as significant as its history. The building stands out as a magnificent landmark on Addison's horizon, visible from several miles away on both the east and west sides of Pleasant Bay.

R.   L. White & Son, Inc., the contractor, is a family owned business started in 1903, now

being run by the fourth generation. The woodworking mill that the family built in 1928 was sadly lost in a major fire less than two months ago, but the business clearly carries on with its tradition of quality work. The crane was provided by Douglas Crane of Southwest Harbor. Architectural and engineering services are provided to the Friends by Ames Associates of Bangor. The Maine Historic Preservation Commission reviews and approves all rehabilitation work on the building before it is undertaken. The Friends have obtained four grants for the rehabilitation of the building. The current work is being accomplished because of a USDA, Rural Development grant for $97,000.

By the end of 2013 the Friends plan to restore and paint the entire exterior of the building. Thereafter, the interior will be restored and a basement added which will increase the usefulness of the building. Funds still have to be raised to complete the rehabilitation. Donations may be made to the Friends of the Church on the Hill, PO Box 67, Addison, ME 04606. 

DIKE BRIDGE UPDATE

In June of 2010, the town was notified that the replacement of the Ridge Road dike bridge was too large and too expensive for the Maine Department of Transportation (MEDOT) and that they would team up with the United States Army of Corps of Engineers (USACE) to move forward with the project.

 For the last year the town has received several updates that all reference the negotiations between the two parties as they worked out the details of their contract.

 The new update from USACE states that the contract has been signed between the two agencies. USACE will conduct a feasibility study for environmental restoration that will include cost analysis, measured impacts on wells, residential and agricultural properties. The study will consider any bridge configuration that appears to fit the project and will take approximately one year to complete. When concluded, USACE will provide a recommendation to MEDOT. If they agree on the recommendation, USACE will manage the project and provide sixty five percent of the funding. MEDOT will be their partner and provide the other thirty five percent.

 The original start date projected by MEDOT of 2012 doesn’t seem realistic if this is the pace at which this project is going to move. The town’s most important concern is that the bridge is deteriorating. If it reaches a certain stage the MEDOT, at several public meetings, has indicated that the bridge may have to be closed until it can be repaired. That is a major inconvenience for many residents, especially fire fighters living on that side of town. Reaching the fire station is a very time sensitive issue and without the bridge, response time will be much longer.

SORRY NO NEW UPDATES....WE ARE IN A HOLDING PATTERN...       READ THE WEST BRANCH STUDY REPORT HERE

SCULPTURE ARRIVES IN ADDISON

Addison Point Park received its final piece on October 6 when the sculpture created at this year’s International Schoodic Sculpture Symposium was installed. The sculpture was created by Lisa Becu and aptly named “The Spirit of the Marsh.”

STUDENTS TAKE FIELD TRIP TO THE SHORE

Have you ever touched the vent of an extinct volcano? On June 7, the first grade students from DW Merritt Elementary School did and here is the picture to prove it. Accompanied by their teacher Gale Whitten and adult helpers, Dianne Farren and Pat Thaxter, the students took a field trip to the Town Beach in South Addison. The volcano is located on the Shore Path Trail and fairly easy to find. The top of the volcano was scuffed off by the glacier about 13,000 years ago but its evidence is still there, along with its rhyoite and pillow lava.
Photo left to right: Devin Beal, Rufus Hammond, Sara Batson, Brady Fletcher, Gale Whitten, Logan Cirone, Mali Smith, Kaydence Sanville, Dakota Willey, Morgan Floyd, Kayla Danforth, McKenzie Thompson, back, Pat Thaxt

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