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, September 1, 2018
Friday, August 31, 2018
Thursday, August 30, 2018
Public Health Advisory - West Nile Virus
Maine CDC confirmed the
presence of West Nile virus (WNV) in mosquitoes collected in the state.
One mosquito pool (a collection which contains between 1-50 mosquitoes)
tested positive for WNV at Maine’s Health and Environmental Testing
Laboratory (HETL) on August 28th, 2018. The positive pool of Culex
pipiens mosquitoes was collected on August 21st, 2018 in the town of
Kittery in York county. This is the first positive mosquito test in
Maine in 2018.
Click here for more information.
Click here for more information.
SUBMITTED BY: TOWN OF LISBON
Lisbon Town Offices Closed
Lisbon Town Offices Closed
In observance of Labor Day, the Lisbon Town Offices will be closed Monday, September 3, 2018.
SUBMITTED BY: TOWN OF LISBON
SUBMITTED BY: TOWN OF LISBON
Tuesday, August 28, 2018
WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE?
According to
google, these are the mil rates and population for towns in Androscoggin
County. What should stand out to everyone is the major discrepancy between
the mil rates and the populations.
TOWNS MIL RATE POPULATION
Auburn 23.68 22,948
Sabattus 17.75 5,015
Lisbon 24.84 8,846
Lewiston 28.67 36,140
Durham 18.85 3,940
Wales 14.85 1,634
Greene 17.80 4,373
Poland 14.74 5,544
Minot 15.85 2,596
Livermore Falls
21.60 3,115
Turner 17.05 5,765
As you can see Lisbon has moved into
second place in the county as far as the mil rate goes surpassing Auburn.
These figures for population are from 2016. The reason for the discrepancy is because our Town
Manager, Diane Barnes, compares populations when determining salaries instead
of the tax base for the towns. As everyone knows Auburn has many more
commercial businesses than Lisbon and yet our mil rate is higher.
There is no
way that the salaries of Department Heads in Lisbon should be as high as they
are starting out. We just do not have the tax base to support such high salaries and
the Town Manager knew this from the start but used population to establish
salaries without comparing tax bases and our Town Council believes everything
the Town Manager says as gospel.
The Town
Council needs to delay voting on spending issues until the Council can do
adequate investigations. The Town
Council needs to cut spending to include the Town Manager’s salary. The Department Heads are receiving between $1,200.00 and
$1,800.00 annually and taxpayers in Lisbon cannot afford these increases. There is no way to reduce Department
Heads salaries because the Town Manager, Diane Barnes has committed the
taxpayers into paying these outrageous salaries.
Taxpayers and the Town Council have
to pay more attention to the spending habits of the Town Manager and her
Department Heads. We have to bring down our mil rate so that it is more in
line with our population and other towns in the county.
Let’s put a halt to excessive spending
and start comparing apple to apples instead of apples to oranges.
Larry Fillmore
CENSORSHIP IN LISBON
Monday, August 27, 2018
TAX BILLS
From the chatter this weekend on Lisbon Maine Community Information website, residents of Lisbon received their new tax bills. I found it amusing that residents were shocked their taxes had increased so much. The Lisbon Reporter and LisbonMaine.net have been warning residents for several months prior to the Town Council approval of the budget.
Sunday, August 26, 2018
Saturday, August 25, 2018
LIBON Mobile Home Replacement Initiative
MaineHousing is pleased to announce the re-opening of its Mobile Home Replacement Initiative which provides an opportunity for the owner/occupant of a Pre-1976 Mobile Home to remove and replace it with a new Energy Star certified manufactured home located on the same site.
SUBMITTED BY: TOWN OF LISBON
LISBON Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Facade Project Invitation to Bid
Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Facade Project Invitation to Bid
SUBMITTED BY: TOWN OF LISBON
Wednesday, August 22, 2018
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
Monday, August 20, 2018
LISBON Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Facade Project Invitation to Bid
Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Facade Project Invitation to Bid
SUBMITTED BY: TOWN OF LISBON
LISBON Charter Communication Notification - August 15, 2018
Charter Communications, locally known as Spectrum, is making changes to our channel lineup for customers in your community. The English Premier League Soccer channel discontinued Spectrum’s right to carry its channel located on the SPP Tier 2 SD & HD service level. Effective on or after August 24, 2018, the channel will no longer be available.
SUBMITTED BY: TOWN OF LISBON
Friday, August 17, 2018
DIG DEEP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
WHO’S IN CHARGE????
I just
reviewed the latest Town Council video and was amazed. The video reflects that the Town Manager, Diane Barnes,
ONLY feeds the Town Council information she wants them to know instead of
presenting ALL the facts. The
Town Council can never reach a sound decision unless they have all the
information available on any subject matter.
I will explain:
2018-152
Asset Forfeiture Funds – This item
was on the agenda because during the budget prepared by Diane Barnes; she
conned the Town Council into using taxpayer dollars from the Unassigned Fund
Balance instead of using Asset Forfeiture funds available in the Police
Department. According to the
Recommendations, prepared by the Town Manager, Diane Bares, it says and I
quote: “Staff did not recommend the use of forfeiture funds since there is
uncertainty in replenishing these funds now and in the future. These assets have been used for matching
grant funds for law enforcement equipment.”
The last time I
checked, the people elected members of the Town Council to represent them when
it comes to spending their money, not Diane Barnes or her staff.
The option of using the forfeiture funds should have been presented, at
the time of the budget discuss, for the Town Council to decide which way they
wanted to go but instead this information was withheld from the Town
Council. There is $6,786.04 in Federal
funds and $13,972.30 in State funds available to be used for the purchase of
the firearms at $7,800.00. The Town Council reversed their decision
and is now using the forfeiture funds instead of the Unassigned Fund
Balance. This is the right choice, as
far as I am concerned.
This is a prime example
of how the Town Manager, Diane Barnes, manipulates information she presents to
the Town Council to get her way. At first, I blamed the
Town Council for making, what I considered poor decisions, but when I started
looking into it, I realized they were not getting ALL the information and
therefore they could not make a logical and right decision. This has happened a lot and really needs to
stop.
I thank the Town Council and
especially Councilor Allen Ward, for getting this on the agenda and correcting
this situation. Taxpayers are paying much more in taxes than
they should and the Town Council must start looking for ways to cut spending.
Thank you Councilor Ward.
Larry FillmoreThursday, August 16, 2018
LISBON Nomination Papers Circulating
Nomination Papers Circulating
For Nov 6, 2018 Election Day
2018 Papers Out:
Town Council-At Large: Normand Roland Albert, Jr., 2 Cynthia Drive, Lisbon Falls
Town Council-District 1: Kasie Lyn Kolbe, 32 Moody Road, Lisbon
Town Council-District 2: Allen Scott Ward, 17 Plummer Street, Lisbon Falls
School Committee-At Large:
Town Council-At Large: Normand Roland Albert, Jr., 2 Cynthia Drive, Lisbon Falls
Town Council-District 1: Kasie Lyn Kolbe, 32 Moody Road, Lisbon
Town Council-District 2: Allen Scott Ward, 17 Plummer Street, Lisbon Falls
School Committee-At Large:
- Herbert Leslie "Pete" Reed, 385 Ridge Road, Lisbon Falls
- Kimberly Ann Labbe-Poisson, 21 Cheryl Dee Ave., Lisbon Falls
- Kathi Louise Yergin, 2 Highland Ave., Lisbon Falls
SUBMITTED BY: TOWN OF LISBON
LISBON Park Street Sewer Replacement Notification
The Lisbon Sewer
Department has contracted St. Laurent and Son Excavation to complete the
sewer main replacement on Park Street with work beginning the week of
August 27 and continuing through the end of October.
Please be patient as this work can cause delays if you travel on Park Street. If possible, it is recommended that an alternate route be used for the duration of the project to avoid any delays.
If you have any questions/concerns before, during or after the project is complete, please contact the Sewer Superintendent at 353-3000 ext. 601.
Please be patient as this work can cause delays if you travel on Park Street. If possible, it is recommended that an alternate route be used for the duration of the project to avoid any delays.
If you have any questions/concerns before, during or after the project is complete, please contact the Sewer Superintendent at 353-3000 ext. 601.
SUBMITTED BY: TOWN OF LISBON
Tuesday, August 14, 2018
Saturday, August 11, 2018
WAKE UP MAINERS - PART 2
As Mainers, we have a
responsibility to support our President until he does something against the
law. Mainers elect their representatives
to speak for them in Congress. One of
those individuals is Senator Angus King.
I have downloaded the last four months of his voting record and it is
below for everyone to see.
July 11 Nonbinding motion
calling for congressional approval of national security tariffs (88-11) Voted -
Yes
June 20 Rescinding previously
approved but unspent funding (48-50) Voted - No
May 23 Expanding private care
options for veterans (92-5) Voted - Yes
May 17 Nomination of Gina
Haspel to be director of the CIA (54-45) Voted - No
May 16 Reinstating net
neutrality rules (52-47) Voted - Yes
April 26 Nomination of Mike
Pompeo to be secretary of state (57-42) Voted – Yes
April 18 Repeal of guidance
to protect borrowers from discriminatory markups on auto loans Voted – No
Britt Grant to 11th
Circuit Court
Ryan Wesley to 9th
Circuit Court
Andrew Oldham to 5th
Circuit Court
Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme
Court
Mick Mulvaney to Director of
the Office of Management and Budget
Steven Mnuchin to Secretary
of the Treasury
Jeff Session to Attorney
General
Betsy DeVos to Secretary of
Education
Larry Fillmore
Concerned Mainer
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