LIMESTONE, Maine — After going through nearly a third of 2018 without a foreman for the highway department, the Town of Limestone recently hired Jim Pelletier for the post.
Interim Town Manager Tom Stevens said the decision was made by the Select Board and former interim manager Stacey Mahan just before Stevens was hired in mid-April.
“They left it to Stacey to make the decision,” Stevens said, “and that was right around the time I arrived.”
Pelletier, who lives in Limestone and said he was “excited and anxious” to work for his hometown and “make our community proud” began work on a rainy April 30 in which he, both figuratively and literally, got his feet wet unplugging four culverts around town.
Pelletier said that while culverts are sometimes blocked with snow and ice, the ones in Limestone were plugged up with mud.
“I’m not sure if it’s because of beavers or it’s just runoff,” he said, adding that he and his crew wereusing high pressure water to blast out the culverts and prevent the roads from flooding.
“We’re fortunate that we’re not as bad as Caribou,’ he said, “where some of their roads are collapsing.”
Stevens, who formerly served as manager for both Limestone and Presque Isle, said Pelletier was once a member of the town Select Board, and that he presented a very well-rounded resume to the town.
Before taking on the foreman position, Pelletier said he was “teaching truck driving at NMCC,” a profession he has had for “many years” in addition to working for MDOT and off and on in construction.
“I have some experience that’s going to help me out significantly,” he said.
Pelletier found out about the job a little over a month ago through some friends who alerted him that the position was available.
“The rest was history,” he said. “I sent in my resume and got the job offer.”
Looking ahead, Pelletier hopes to see some better weather.
“Some sunshine would be good right now,” he said with a laugh.
