Summertime

And the livin’ is easy

Fish are jumpin’

And the cotton is high

Oh, your daddy’s rich, 

And your ma is good lookin’;

So hush, little baby,

Don’ you’ cry.

Porgy and Bess [1935]. Summertime

Keep Belfast Beautiful went off without a hitch on May 7.  We spent about 90 minutes cleaning up Route One between the overpass and Lower Congress Street.  Many thanks to those who participated and especially to Bev O’Malia for putting it all together.

Although we got a late start, our Charitable Fund Raiser took off on April 20 and concluded on May 18 with $19,100 raised exceeding our goal of $12,000 and our stretch goal of $15,000.  Thank you to everyone who helped out.

On May 4, Patrick Richards, Belfast’s Fire Chief, and grandson of former Chief Jim Richards, spoke to us about what our Fire Department does.  Belfast has 26 persons in the Fire Department and 18 on the EMS Roster, with 7 full-time paramedics.  The ambulance responds to 2,500 calls per year and the Fire Department handles 325 calls annually.  Users of our Emergency Medical Services can expected to be billed for ambulance usage.  Belfast does not bill for fire services.

Chief Richards went over the recent Penobscot McCrum fire in detail.  The building was constructed in 1908 and was originally a wood frame fertilizer factory.  The building was 84,000 square feet in size.  The fire allegedly started in a shroud over the Fryolator and is believed to been started through spontaneous combustion out through the vent and breached the vent system going above the fire suppression system.  The Fire Department was putting 1,500 gallons per minute on the fire but had to reduce the flow to conserve water in the hydrant system tanks.  In the end no one was hurt and the fire was eventually put out.

On May 11, Mary Mortier spoke to us about City Council activities.  The Keep the Faith Fund has distributed $126,300 to 87 former employees of Penobscot McCrum in the form of $500 checks.  Mary spoke of block grants of $690,000 for Wight Street and Congress Street storm drains, sidewalks and other improvements.  Our tax bill is 34.35% for the City budget with the remainder going to the schools and county.  There is a proposed 1.22% increase in taxes which will probably change.  Mary then went through the budget line items.  She also mentioned that a new Police Chief has been selected.

On May 18, our President-Elect, Kristine Wentworth presided over the meeting in my absence.  (Thank you, Kristine!). Barbara Gage of the Belfast Garden Club spoke to the membership.  The Garden Club was founded in 1928 and currently has about 100 members.  They are holding a plant sale on June 4 at the Boat House at 10:00 AM.  They are accepting plant donations from local gardeners.  There are 12 public gardens that are maintained by the Garden Club in Belfast.  Their open garden series will be starting soon, check out their website (www.belfastgardenclub.org)

At our May 25 meeting, Keith Pooler, the Belfast Water District Superintendent and Assistant Fire Chief spoke to us about our water. 

Did you know:

There are two wells at the Goose River Aquifer that supply 1,500 gallons/minute to Belfast? There are 39 miles of water mains in Belfast?

The Lincolnville Ave. tanks hold 3.3 Million gallons?

There are 275 fire hydrants in the city, and . . . 2,040 water services (residences and businesses)?

The Penobscot McCrum fire consumed 3.1 Million gallons of water over 4 days, 2 million of that in the first 12 hours.  Some of the water mains in the city are over 130 years old.  The Water District will be moving to 41 Wight Street by Christmas.

Regarding consumption by Nordic Aquafarms, the Aquifer has a capacity of 699 million gallons of water per year.  The city currently uses 234 million gallons per year.  Nordic Aquafarms is projected to use 262 million gallons annually leaving 192 million gallons in reserve. 

We are still looking for someone to take charge of our Speakers Program.  Heather Ross, our current Speaker Chairperson is moving on to become the Nairator publisher and we need someone to take over contacting speakers.  Please contact me at (jpgolden@roadrunner.com) if you are interested.