Club snow groomer purchase approved

By Stuart Hedstrom
Staff Writer

DOVER-FOXCROFT — The Piscataquis Valley Snowmobile Club will have a new groomer for when the snow starts to fly, after a financing package through the town of Dover-Foxcroft for the vehicle was approved during a special town meeting on June 15.

The groomer package, passed without opposition, has the town appropriating $50,000 for the new equipment. The club will use the vehicle to maintain public snowmobile trails within and adjacent to the town; reimburse the cost over no more than six years with annual payments of at least $8,000 and a final balloon payment not less than $10,000 and a final interest payment calculated at an annual rate of at least .9 percent; and maintain casualty and liability insurance on the groomer before the vehicle is turned over to the club prior to paying off all the costs.

In 2007 the Piscataquis Valley Snowmobile Club purchased its current groomer with a grant combined with $25,000 in assistance from  the town to complete the purchase. The $25,000 was repaid in two payments while the town held the title, and the club is looking to make the payments on the new groomer in a similar timeframe.

During the ensuing select meeting, the board approved a liquor license application for the Mill Inn and Cafe at the Riverfront Redevelopment Project site downtown. Selectperson Gail D’Agostino asked when the establishment is planning to open.

“The hope is mid-July, that’s the goal,” said Mill Inn and Cafe Manager Erin Cabot.

“We have an application for a holding tank at the skating rink, it’s being rehabilitated,” Town Manager Jack Clukey said about property owner Tim Merrill’s application for the Greeley’s Landing Road site. “It’s just required that we basically are aware,” Clukey said about the board making a formal motion on the application after the town and state inspectors have looked at the site.

The June 15 meeting was the first since the municipal election six days prior. The selectmen opted to have Chair Elwood Edgerly and Vice Chair Cindy Freeman Cyr — who was reelected to another three-year term on June 9 — continue to serve in these positions for the next fiscal year.