by Chris Chase
Coastal Journal staff

BATH — In a special meeting on April 17, the Bath City Council voted to accept Fields for our Future’s proposal to replace the surface of McMann Field with artificial turf. 

The approval came two weeks after the council requested that the organization form a building committee to establish what the costs and responsibilities of the new facility would entail. Lu Lozano, the chairman of Fields for our Future, managed to form the committee and meet the council’s request.

“There was great participation,” said Lu Lozano of the committee. 

Firefighters ignite the grasses at Crystal Spring Farms during a prescribed burn on April 22.by Chris Chase
Coastal Journal staff

BRUNSWICK — Normally the sight of a cadre of fire trucks on your property is a sign of events not going as planned. 

On April 22, it was a much different story at the Crystal Springs Farm in Brunswick, where the Brunswick Fire Department was working together with John Leavitt of the Maine Forestry Service to carry out a prescribed burn that had been planned by the Brunswick Topsham Land Trust (BTLT) for over a year. 

The burn, which took place over a seven-acre area, was done to preserve and maintain a type of ecosystem that is becoming increasingly rare in Maine: Little Bluestem – Blueberry Sandplain Grassland.

by Chris Chase
Coastal Journal staff

BOOTHBAY HARBOR — In the latest development in the ongoing saga that is the change of services at St. Andrews, Lincoln County Healthcare (LCH) has announced that they may have found a way to keep the hospital’s Critical Access Hospital (CAH) status. 

If accomplished, the retention of the status would allow the organization to keep millions in federal subsidies, and would reduce the costs of health care in the region by approximately 15 percent. 

“We believe there’s potential to have a single hospital corporation under the St. Andrews license serving both campuses. If we are successful, we would not only preserve Critical Access Hospital subsidy for the services we provide in Boothbay Harbor, this federal funding becomes available across the Lincoln County Healthcare system,” said James Donovan, the CEO of LCH. 

by Chris Chase
Coastal Journal staff

ROCKPORT — A proposed hospice center intended for the Pen Bay Medical Center campus has been put on hold by the planning board after the Rockport police chief raised traffic concerns.

The facility, which would be a seven-bed hospice house, would have two separate entrances leading to Route 1. According to Kerry Leichtman, the chair of Rockport’s planning board, the police chief had raised concerns about traffic flow in the area. 

“We basically told them they needed to get the police chief’s blessing before they go forward,” said Leichtman. 

Mark Kelley, the Rockport police chief, said his concerns stemmed from a lack of information on their part about their overall plan.