City considers vendor ordinance
Easton looks to trees, library
While voters will soon resolve school budgets and other matters, local governments have been dealing with a host of issues this spring.
In Presque Isle, the city council has been mulling the need for local regulation of mobile vendors, people selling food or goods on the street or out of their vehicles without a permanent location. Councillors are set to vote on a proposed itinerant vendor ordinance on June 6, after a public hearing at 6 p.m.
The ordinance, drafted by city staff, would require mobile vendors to apply for permits and pay $25 per day or up to $100 for a 150-day seasonal period.
The ordinance offers exemptions for religious, charitable, educational and service groups and any vendor who is a member of either of Presque Isle’s two seasonal farmer’s markets, at Riverside Park on Fridays and the Aroostook Centre Mall on Saturdays.
The ordinance is aimed in part at incentivizing membership in Presque Isle downtown businesses and established farmer’s markets, although councillors have debated the necessity of the regulation and its permit fees.
The Presque Isle City Council also recently approved two rezonings of areas into business zones: a section of Main Street, between Maple and Academy Street, and 56 Harris Street, the former Page’s Market. The latter property was within an urban residential category, and the new owner wanted to continue using it for commercial purposes.
In Easton, town officials have been looking for feedback from residents about interest in library services.
In the 1990s and 2000s, Easton’s high school library was open to Easton residents, but the program has “lapsed, due to personnel changes and other factors,” according to the town.
Recently, more people have been inquiring about using the library for books, media and more, partly because of “the lack of availability of public access Internet in Easton.”
To explore reviving the program, the town has put together a survey for residents. It’s available on the Easton schools website and at the town office, post office, Katahdin Trust bank and Country Farms Market.
The town is also getting underway with a tree planting project, as the only town in Aroostook County to receive a grant from Project Canopy, a program of the Maine Forest Service and GrowSmart Maine.
David Hopkins, an engineer with CES, applied on behalf of Easton’s Envirothon class and won $8,000 that will be used to plant Greenspire Linden and White Spruce trees in a wind breaker at the elementary school property and on Duncan Drive. Students and staff will also get trees to take home.
The Duncan Drive planting, a project for the school’s Envirothon class, will be held Saturday at 9 a.m.
In Mapleton, meanwhile, Boy Scouts have been offering their services in spring projects. R.J. Gross installed a grass infield and pitcher’s mound at the Mapleton Little League park and was set to the the same at the Pony League field, while Aaron Swanson replaced the roof on Mapleton’s picnic shelter and moved it to the pool and playground area.
