Edgecomb selectmen know Maine Department of Transportation’s Route 27 project is scheduled to begin in July and end next year, but they still want more details. On April 30, selectmen invited MaineDOT officials to their selectboard meeting along with State Rep. Holly Stover, Boothbay Town Manager Dan Bryer and Wiscasset Water District Superintendent Chris Cossette to discuss details about the project. In past discussions, MaineDOT revealed its plan was to put bid proposals out in May and begin work in the summer. 

But before work begins, Edgecomb selectmen want other details likely to impact summer travel. “I’d like to know where the project starts. Is it in Boothbay or Edgecomb? I’d also like to know when the two big culvert repairs start.” MaineDOT declined to take part in the April 30 discussion. “They’re not doing face-to-face meetings anymore. Instead, they request any questions be submitted online,” Smith said. 

The project is a $10.1 million “pavement presentation” which will grind existing pavement three to five inches deep and shim and resurface the roadway. For several years, Boothbay and Edgecomb municipal officials urged MaineDOT  to repair Route 27 due to safety concerns. 

In other action, selectmen discussed the potential of joining Wiscasset Water District as a member. Stover sponsored legislation which would amend the district’s charter and allow Edgecomb to join the district as a member. If selectmen decide to seek membership, it will require public votes in Edgecomb and Wiscasset. The votes would likely take place in 2025. “This November probably won’t work. You need to do your due diligence educating the public,” Cossette said.  “You need to schedule a couple of public hearings, and there is a big election this November. So, it’s better to wait.”

Selectmen also had other guests during the meeting. Resident Nancy Van Dyk came to thank selectmen for placing veterans' banners on Route 27 last fall. The Boothbay Region Veterans Banner Program was launched in November 2023 and started with 73 photographic banners displayed to honor veterans in Edgecomb, Boothbay, East Boothbay, Boothbay Harbor and Southport. The banners were taken down for the winter and return this May. Banner Coordinator Jim Singer reported over 300 would be hung this month.

But Van Dyk’s gratitude was coupled with concern. At a previous meeting, the selectmen discussed challenges of hanging the banners on a highly traveled location (Route 27) without a public works department or bucket truck. Van Dyk told selectmen if they could find a solution to the challenges it would mean so much to her family.

Van Dyk’s son served four tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan as a Lt. Colonel in the U.S. Army Rangers. Van Dyk relayed her son’s reaction to last fall’s tribute banner.  “Before he hung up the phone, he started to laugh (and said), ‘I hope all those high school teachers who told me I wouldn’t amount to much drive down and see my banner.’”

Selectmen told Van Dyk they were close to finding a third party to assist with the banner hanging.