The Lisbon Reporter

WELCOME TO THE LISBON REPORTER. In an effort to keep our community informed of what is going on at local and Federal levels of government, we decided to create this on-line newspaper. It is our hope that this on-line newspaper will help you stay informed so that you can get involved and take action for the benefit of our ENTIRE community. Thank you for visiting and please check back frequently for information about what is happening in LISBON/LISBON FALLS, MAINE USA

Saturday, August 8, 2015

WHAT THEY DON’T WANT YOU TO KNOW!!!

Back on October 20th, 2014, an administrative consent agreement was reached between the Town of Lisbon and the State of Maine Department of Environmental Protection. The town agreed to pay a fine of $4,252 and to complete a Supplemental Environmental Project (SEP) named the “Unnamed Stream (Route 196) Watershed Management Plan”. The SEP was valued at $17,009.00 dollars. Please review the attached Amendment to Administrative Consent Agreement dated October 20, 2014.

This amendment came from the State Department of Environmental Protection because the Town of Lisbon failed to comply with the original agreement. If you look to find this agreement on the town web site, I hope you have better luck then i did. Also, this was considered and approved by the Town Council on July 21, 2015 but it was never explained to the community what is going on; so much for transparency and keeping the people informed.

The bottom line is the Town of Lisbon violated the original approved Administrative Consent Agreement dated October 20, 2014; so now the town is forced to pay the $17,009.00. Whether this money is coming out of the Sewer Department or the Municipal budget has not been released. In fact no information on this situation has ever been released by the Town Council or the Town Manager; so much for transparency and keeping the people informed.

I understand that the Maine Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner, Patricia W. Aho, has not signed but since they wrote this amendment; I do not understand why she would not sign it. Also, the Maine Office of the Attorney General, Scott Boak, Assistant Attorney General has not signed this amendment either. This may not be official yet, but it does not excuse the Town Council and the Town Manager from keeping the people informed.

It is a shame the community violated the terms of the original agreement and now the town has to pay a fine. Someone has to be held accountable. Instead of hiding this from the people, action should be taken to ensure there are no repeats of situations like this.

Larry Fillmore