I know recently you haven’t seen much in the way of new material. My schedule with my current job has made it a little difficult to make the selectmen meetings as we work to close the facility where I work. This is also why there have been no recordings posted to share with you and also why there has been little new material. I simply have been a bit out of the loop to be able to editorialize, comment or write knowledgeably.

I have been giving great thought to my efforts and time as well as the community and the website. In reflecting back on the past three years I think my efforts and those who have supported me have had some influence. The town website and notices have improved a little. I also believe that I have clearly demonstrated the Town could publish it’s own video and recordings of meetings for little to no cost and how simple it is to keep residents informed. The website has also served as a sounding post for residents to comment and share their views.

As things progress I am thinking change is in order, but I am just not sure where to best apply those efforts. Some have said to start a Facebook group for “OurVoice” and post though it. Others have said keep going as we have been because we are making strides and improvements. I would be curious as to what your perspectives are?  Where do you get your news?  Do you like the Facebook ecosystem even though it is closed? What ideas do you have?

FIRST PLACE 4 HEALTH ORIENTATION MEETINGDo you want to lose weight? Could you use some balance in your life? Come and discover the most complete Christ-centered healthy living program. First Place 4 Health is a reliable, proven method of weight loss and healthy living. The tremendous success of First Place 4 Health is due to its approach to weight loss and overall health management, which puts Christ first and improves every area of a person’s life. This Christ-centered, balanced weight-loss and healthy living program has guided hundreds of thousands of people to a healthy lifestyle and a closer walk with the Lord. If you are interested, come to our orientation meeting at Lebanon-North Berwick Baptist Church, Little River Road, Lebanon, Maine on Tuesday, September 14th. Meetings start at 7:00 PM, we also do a fitness strength and training exercise time at 6:00 PM. If you need any other information, please feel free to call the Tuesday night group leader, Diane Pitman, at 207-457-1147 or 207-651-3362.

Believing wholeheartedly that regardless of what we choose to eat, nothing is more important than starting with ingredients that are of the best possible quality and are at their peak of seasonal ripeness, knowing our final results will never be better than what we started with. A hidden advantage of using quality local ingredients is that they allow us to cook simply and eat well. Because our efforts in the kitchen are hard won, hopefully the meals that we make will substantiate our lives by tasting good and by infusing us with the feeling of connection to those who grow and produce the food and to those whom we share it with.

For Sebastian as a Chef and us as an organization, the best meals are the ones in which we know where everything was grown and who grew it. A meal should make sense geographically as well as indigenously. In the large urban sprawl areas of our country this may seem like an absurd value, but that’s only because we’re out of the habit of being connected with our food and its source. It is possible to regain that sense of connection; because knowing where our food comes from enriches our lives immeasurably by linking us to the place where we live and to those with whom we share a landscape, a culture, and a history. Agriculture is big business, but there are still many family farmers working small farms who market their products directly to us through farmers’ markets and CSA programs.

The seasonal food our local farmers bring to our tables is always the most vital and delectable because of its sheer proximity to market with the highest levels of sustainable farming techniques generally used. It is a true joy to cook with, and that is why we always seek out local farmers’ markets and all other direct food sources. Although done in an automobile, our family still forages for the majority of our food. We scour the countryside for grass-fed local beef, raw jersey milk, farmstead cheese, organic vegetables, raw honey, bee pollen, pastured heritage breed pork, grass-fed lamb, and pastured eggs and chickens. Having grown up on a New England farm Chef Carosi took all of these products for granted and watched the rapid change and steady decline in the American households meal plan due to preservative laden pre-packaged convenience foods (tv dinners)………… Vowing to keep our family and dining public drug-free (antibiotics, steroids, nitrates, nitrites and all other forms of pesticides) and educated about their food ways and traditions, we will source locally what we do not produce or grow ourselves, this is our mission at The New England Farm 2 Fork Project.

While sharing these beliefs with the dining public we have decided to bring you ‘a twenty mile meal’….. Thinking of this as a way to tell the story of a particular region, demonstrating through food what the concept of ‘LOCAL’ is really about…. Trying to present an environment where the story of the region and the story of the table can be shared and where the public has direct access to them……!

The New England Farm 2 Fork Project’s ‘…..a twenty  mile meal…..’ will consist of locally made artisan & farmstead cheeses, pastured local lamb, antique (heirloom) apples and many other locally raised products. Our gastronomic goal is to serve the best local, sustainably produced ingredients, and to treat them with respect and simplicity in our cuisine. This means using as much of a products resources as possible, be it the greens from garden grown organic beets, or the livers and gizzards of barnyard chickens. Our deep-rooted regional influences have shaped and continue to shape New England farm cuisine and inspire our cooking and food on a daily basis. Diners are generally served 5-8 courses, in small, manageable portions that allow them to sample the variety of edible commodities available to us in a particular season, from a local source, without relying on imported foods purchased from agri-business conglomerates…

The seasonal cheeses, fruits, vegetables, milk, meat and other foods we procure locally and at the farmers market for our ‘a twenty mile meal’, along with the conviviality of seeing our local farmer twice a week, have been the truest source of inspiration in our kitchen and cuisine. As a Chef, Sebastian believes that we have a vital responsibility to be part of an overall solution. Reuniting the local beekeeper, artisan cheese maker, herdsmen, cattle rancher, lobsterman, fisherman, clam-digger, organic grower and dairy farmer to the dining public is a mandatory necessity that must not be overlooked. The New England Farm 2 Fork Project, Chef Sebastian Carosi and his band of roving rural culinary visionaries are cultivating a more conscientious food culture within our little corner of the country….

The New England Farm 2 Fork Project kicks off  ‘…..a twenty mile meal……’ at 2010 Host Farm Raven Hill Orchard beginning on Saturday, July 17^th and ending on Sunday, July 18^th.     Dinners start at 6pm sharp…….

The evening’s menu will feature:

reception…

smashed maine grown heirloom white beans on fried peasant

bread with pickled cucumber and ham powder…

pastures, prairies, hills, fields, farms and gardens…

‘liquid salad’ with a tall tomato & cold river vodka jell-o shot and a local goat cheese grilled cheese…

the freshest mess of field greens and foraged roughage tossed in a lemonade vinaigrette

with native strawberries, rosemary’s waltz, wildflower bee pollen and

organic applewood smoked sunflower seeds…

pastured local spring lamb ‘schnitzel’ with a homemade organic pretzel crumb

crust, sweet pea mashed taters, zucchini and red rooster sauce…

some sugar therapy…

heather’s ‘home-made’ baked farmers cheese with crushed local berries…

an elixir…

pink shandy cooler with citrus…

Cuisine by- Chef Sebastian Carosi

$45 p/p    ( plus tax & gratuity )

*to view our schedule of up-coming events go to:    www.thenewenglandfarm2forkproject.com

Please call the field phone direct for reservations- 207-459-4271  .  Seating is limited to 36 people per night…..

2010 Host Farm- Raven Hill Orchard  255 Ossipee Hill Road  .  East Waterboro, ME  207.247.4455

Inquiries, questions and comments for The New England Farm 2 Fork Project should be directed to:    info@thenewenglandfarm2forkproject.com

*there will be several seats set aside for members of the media (free of charge), if you and a guest would like to attend, please RSVP ASAP, seats go quickly……………

Meeting Highlights:

All Selectmen were in attendance

Here is a list of some of the items suggested by Selectmen and residents during the meeting. Selectmen will be looking in to these in the coming weeks.These are in no particular order of priority, simply a list.

Firetruck Fund to set a side say 50k or so each year towards purchase of a new firetruck.

Improvement of roads by spending much more and planning better. Perhaps implement and use a road review committee formed by volunteer residents as was done with success in the past. Look into cost analysis of outsourcing winter plowing versus homegrown approach.

Formulate a Town manager implementation plan. Meet with area Town Managers to gain insight, learn about contract needs, wording and salary requirements. Perhaps use a sub committee as part of the Selection process. Ideally get a person who will be with the Town for a while by properly matching skills and needs.

Grow the free Health Clinic services and also advertise them better

Institute a volunteer program for the new library and also other activities and programs in town.

Town Website improvements…notice updates, bid requests and awards, better usage by town departments instead of having all separate websites use a single site.

Quarterly Newsletter published and sent to residents with news, activities and information.

Office manager assigned with communicating vacation requests. internal correspondence and flagging correspondence to correct people.

Legal services usage and questions logged to save redundant information requests within the town hall.

Eco Maine coming in to do presentation opportunity of reducing cost on  Transfer Station waste July 20.  Enforcement of resident permits and elimination of commercial hauler using facility to reduce waste. Better utilization of current services by crushing co-mingles as suggested by Budget Committee.

Town Audit and other professional services placed out for bid. Doing so with insurances and phones has saved tons of money in the recent past.

Look into improving law enforcement in Town. Sheriff has suggested grant money may be available to offer a similar plan as last year providing Lebanon a full-time officer dedicated to our town only. Alternatively look into option of co-op or rental of officer from another neigboring town.

Publish a police log of sorts where information is available even if only total calls so that residents have an idea of the high volume of calls and if possible the type of call. Crime and drugs are a problem in town and residents need to be aware.

Better use of the planning board to review ALL projects in town. Currently a small amount of items get a formal review. Only subdivisions..this might be able to be changed with an ordinance.

Comprehensive Plan committee formed for purposes of preparing a Comprehensive Plan for the Town. This would be done by volunteers maybe a dozen or so. The plan was done a few years ago but required funding for the required maps. The funding did not get approved. Selectmen said we lose so much in the way of State Funds and Grants because we lack any formal plan. The old work could be used along with present state templates to prepare a plan quickly. This would all need public review and be voted to be adopted once completed. A Comprehensive Plan focuses on Zoning and develop areas and provides a growth plan or road map for the town.

Budget items presented in a standardized format and also available early in the process to the Budget Committee for proper review.

Record all the meetings, Selectmen, Planning Board etc via video and place online. Do this in a way that residents may access any of them on demand as other towns do. Also get cable provider to present them on TV so residents to stay informed.

Perform formal performance reviews of town staff. This has not been done routinely in the past and is necessary.

Crackdown on residents with out-of-state registrations. Many people register their vehicles out of state forgoing payment of Maine State Tax and Excise tax. That is money everyone else has to make up for.

Improve Selectmen and Board meeting notice postings, providing more notice of meetings along with agendas to  residents.  Also improve Bid request and bid results postings and their advance notice as well.

Restart the Department Meetings as they were done some time ago. This provides departmental updates and improves communication between the departments.

Of Course there was more…..

Meet adjourned 7:37pm – 1:06 min

Watch 06/29/10 Selectmen Goals Workshop in News |  View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

Attending – Selectmen Chairperson Cole, Selectmen Patch and Selectmen Frizzell

• Meeting Opened 6:35pm
• Heath Road Project – Project delayed until environmental impact is completed
• Tree Cutting – Residents questioned the tree cutting in West Lebanon and the coincidence that Chairperson Cole had a tree cut as well by the same contractor on the same day.  Concerns were the commingling of Town and private work. Chairman Cole had obtained a separate bill for the tree work but there was contention over the details of the entire project and work performed.
• Commercial Hauler Using Transfer Station – Residents asked status of policy that was to go into effect according to a letter stating it would be done June 1st. Selectmen said they were working on it and would have later in the month. The Selectmen stated that businesses could go into to use facility, then they said they could not. Mr. Patch stated regardless of what is done that Mr. Hartford the Commercial Hauler could use it. It is obvious that the usage of the facility is being and has been selectively applied. As example Sky Dive New England is permitted to use it and they are a business and campground but Flat Rock and other campgrounds are not.  Selectmen Cole stated he sees businesses in there. The residents primary concern is control of where the waste comes from and they felt that all businesses should take their waste directly to the Waste Management and bypass the Lebanon Transfer Station all together.
• Meeting adjourned – lasted appx 39 minutes

Of course there was more…

You may see the entire Lebanon Video Library Here http://www.veoh.com/group/selectmeetings

Watch 06-15-10 Lebanon Maine Selectmen Meeting in News |  View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

I didn’t know there was a cost of $40 to make a road  onto your property.  With that said, I know of   quite of few of “skid roads” on different properties.  I am wondering if they paid the cost to have these made?

Is the town making money or loosing it?

I called the CEO one day in reference to someone building on their property.  I wanted to know if they had a permit and why wasn’t it conspicuously displayed, as the rule states it needs to be.  I was told that, yes, this person had a permit and the permit number that was given to me was the exact date I called only a year earlier.  Then I proceeded to remind him that the permit should be displayed and NEVER got a response back.  It seems to me there is alot of favoritism here in town, where as some need permits and some don’t.

Lately, there has been  digging not too far off of Center Road.  Don’t you need a permit for that?  I think there was sand and gravel hauled out of there,  any permit?  There was also a foundation poored, any permit?  There seems to be some sort of dwelling being built there, any permit?  Is it possible that some people can  do it WITHOUT while  others ARE REQUIRED TOO?

We have been talking about change all year, and it seems as though people are now upset because of things that have been said.  If you don’t say them and try to change them, these things WILL CONTINUE, and who suffers for that?

WE DO!!!!!!! Please think about things.  Is this the right way?