The Bangor Daily News from Bangor, Maine • 4

B2 Wednesday August 16 2006 Bangor Dally News Local Regional Forfeited property being readied for market ment any profits from a sale could substantially aid the local agency that seized the home in the first place The Hancock County Drug Task Force was only a few months old when it stumbled upon a massive marijuana growing operation in fvlarch 2004 at the Sorrento property on Route 185 During the raid police seized more than 450 plants 10 pounds of processed marijuana and more than $15000 in cash The property which at that time included a house was forfeited and the owner Roxanna Carter 57 and another intelligence that they Clark said good for us to target and arrest those high-profile dealers but thp task force has also shed light on prevention and treatment And the real As long as money is available for the task force the sheriff said its role is invaluable And if someone makes a nice offer on the seized property in Sorrento it could go a long way certainly want to give this land away that would be a Clark said no rush we just want to get it on the market and see what budget for the task force we asked the county for Clark said in putting together the budget for 2007 it looks like have to raise only about $60000 in taxes worked hard on this property and as things have gotten tighter financially we have needed to be more he added The drug task force whose members work in anonymity in plain clothes and unmarked cruisers has taken a bite out of Hancock drug problems not just the number of arrests the tips and the site where a small crew finished clearing the land the share of any profits would be 64 percent and worked for about six weeks on and off to substantially improve the Clark estimated that the land could fetch about $250000 The county still owes about $50000 in back taxes and fees but he said a reasonable net profit for his office could be $125000 That money will go directly to the Hancock County Drug Task Force a three-member multijurisdictional crew that is in its third year we first proposed the BY ERIC RUSSELL OF THE NEWS STAFF SORRENTO For sale: secluded wooded house lot on 7 acres just off Route 1 Nearly 1000 feet of shore frontage nAmuiiv overlooking Frenchman Bay Previous owner a bit of a shut-in After two years of abandonment and more recently several weeks of cleanup the waterfront property that was seized in a 2004 drug raid is ready to hit the market Although the land technically belongs to the federal govern suspect Craig Folsom 51 have since been convicted of aggravated drug trafficking Shortly before Carter was sentenced in June this year however her house mysteriously caught fire Crews were not able to save the structure and it was demolished The investigation into the fire has been closed with no leads or suspects but the land remained and Hancock County Sheriff William Clark hopes worth something real estate seized in cases like this has to go through the federal the sheriff explained Tuesday from the Orrington mason hired to fix historic stone pound BANGOR DAILY NEWS FILE PHOTOS The hole In the historic Orrington Pound will soon be fixed by local resident Frank "Sonny" Shaw Jr owner of Sunshine Masonry The pound was damaged Dec 7 when a Bucksport woman drove her minivan into the stone structure BY NOK-NOI HAUGER OF THE NEWS STAFF ORRINGTON The gaping hole in the historic circular stone Orrington Pound one of the last standing animal pounds in the state will soon be fixed by a local mason The Orrington Pound was struck by a minivan in December leaving an opening several feet wide and rock rubble scattered into the center of the stone wall that was built in 1843 Town selectmen hired Sunshine Masonry owned and operated by Frank Shaw Jr during their June 12 meeting to do the reconstruction work but had to wait until the insurance company approved the $8000 cost town has gone through a lengthy to find the right person to do the job Town Manager Carl Young said after Shaw was hired almost anybody could pile the rocks back up but a historic landmark and needs to be restored A Bucksport woman apparently fell asleep at the wheel on the afternoon of Dec 7 crashing her vehicle into the 33-foot-wide historic stone structure that once served as the animal pound of the wall will have to be taken because the impact jarred some of the stones making them crooked Young said The Orrington Pound is on Route 15 just before Penobscot Energy Recovery Co if heading south The town installed temporary orange mesh fencing after the accident to prevent any rocks from spilling onto the roadway The circular stone wall structure with its rusty iron gate is all that remains of the pound that was built in 1843 It is built in 1807 that refers to the original wooden structure that was replaced in 1843 with the existing stone wall structure at a cost of $111 society documents showed Local resident Ted Kimball who has 30 years of experience in masonry volunteered to explore options for the town and after talking with several masons from the region made the recommendation to hire Shaw anticipating start any Young said believed to be one of the last standing historic animal pounds in the state Henry Wiswell president of the Orrington Historical Society has said Instead of stray cats and dogs the Orrington Pound housed horses cows pigs and sheep until their owners came to claim them The historical society has kept detailed documents about the pound including daily logs dating to its earliest days Although a sign on the structure states that the pound was Teenager drives truck off bridge into river SEDGWICK A local fisherman on his way to work early Tuesday morning nodded off at the wheel and drove his truck off a low bridge on Route 175 and into the Benjamin River according to police Dakoda Gray 17 was not injured in the accident but his 1994 Toyota pickup truck was a total loss according to Hancock County Deputy Jason Lepper Lepper said that when he responded to the call shortly after 4:30 am truck nearly was submerged in the water The teenager swam the short distance to shore Gray told police that he fell asleep briefly at the wheel and when he awoke his truck was headed toward the guardrail He woke up and jerked the wheel back but lost control and ended up driving over the guardrail There will be no charges Islesboro man charged in Belfast threat case BELFAST An Islesboro man was arrested Monday after allegedly threatening a patron of Cafe with a chair Paul Fino 65 apparently became upset when a waitress told him he could not bring his bicycle inside the establishment Fino allegedly put the bicycle outside then returned and waved the chair in the face of a patron Fino left when the bartender called the police at 4:34 pm Police were told the assailant was wearing a bright blue shirt but when they found Fino on the waterfront a short time later he had changed his shirt apparently tried to alter his Police Chief Jeffrey Trafton said Tuesday Fino was charged with criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon and taken to the Waldo County Jail where bail was set at $200 Rescuing the planet topic of discussion BELFAST Living Landscape-Sustainability a local group working to stimulate dialogue and action toward becoming a sustainable community will host a discussion of Lester book 20: Rescuing a Planet Under Stress and a Civilization in The Aug 28 discussion will take place at the home of Helen Hughes 7 Union St on Belfast Common Food sharing will begin at 6 pm and the book discussion at 6:30 pm Brown is the president of the Earth Policy Institute The public is invited to attend the discussion Those interested may contact Hughes at 338-1719 to reserve a place or to borrow a copy of book Lobster pound fire causes minor damage BAR HARBOR Firefighters responded to a fire that caused minor damage at a lobster pound on West Street Tuesday afternoon According to Deputy Chief John Cunningham of the Bar Harbor Fire Department the call came in about 3:30 pm reporting a fire in the wall at Lobster Pound Firefighters were able to douse the fire quickly and prevented it from spreading The fire started behind a fryolater at the lobster pound Cunningham said There was some minor damage to the building he said and the lobster pound was closed Tuesday afternoon The business was expected to reopen possibly as soon as today Bucksport panel to survey people local buying habits groups: visitors to downtown Bucksport residents from the town and the commu- The surveys will target: visitors to downtown Bucksport residents from the town Orland and Verona Island and the downtown merchants themselves professional surveyor to conduct the face-to-face surveys The visitor survey will be done by the surveyor approaching people walking in the downtown area and asking them a set of questions about why they are in town and what they plan to do The survey of business owners will be a mail-in questionnaire that asks about their businesses and their shopping habits The resident survey is more extensive than the other two and will be conducted door-to- door with the surveyor using a form to ask questions about buying habits in town and out of town In addition to the door-to-door interviews copies of the survey will be inserted in the local weekly newspaper this week and residents who do not receive a visit will be able to mail in their responses and comments Those responding to the survey will be entered in a raffle drawing for items donated by several downtown businesses The responses will be used to develop a marketing strategy for the businesses in the downtown area The marketing plan was one of the priorities included in a downtown revitalization plan that the council adopted earlier this year overall goal is to increase the number of local citizens who buy Milan said want to convince more local people to spend their money locally If we can do that it will have a positive impact on all businesses in The door-to-door surveys will be done during the next few weeks Milan said and the whole process should be completed by Labor Day He said he expects to have the marketing plan developed by the end of September and the committee likely will present it to the council at its first meeting in October BY RICH HEWITT OF THE NEWS STAFF BUCKSPORT The Bucksport Marketing Committee will use three surveys to gauge consumer interest in downtown businesses The surveys are HANCOCK designed to give the economic development committee a of buying habits according to Economic Development Director David Milan The results will give the committee a basis to develop a marketing strategy for promoting downtown businesses hoping to learn what drives purchasing Milan said Tuesday going to market downtown for businesses got to know who marketing it The surveys will target three different nities of Orland and Verona Island and the downtown merchants themselves Town councilors last week allocated $2797 to pay for the surveys That amount includes printing and hiring a Sale of land in Elliotsville causes gap in popular ATY trail sioners in a letter last spring for the use of the Elliotsville Road the Onawa Road and the Mountain Road also known as the Bodfish or Drew Valley Road to connect the recreation trail The commissioners agreed then to allow the use of the Elliotsville Road but not the two other roads because of safety concerns On Tuesday club trail master Mike King had hoped to convince the commissioners to allow the use of the Onawa and Mountain roads but King's appeal failed to muster their support King said the club wanted to use the gravel road into Onawa Lake for a picnic spot In addition the club wanted to find a route over Borestone Mountain into Drew Valley He said many people like to hunt and fish and having a trail for all-terrain vehicles made it a little easier for them He said he saw no safety problems with the use of the two roads Safety however was on the minds a winding road and a decent amount of traffic there We thought there was a safety Commissioner Tom Lizotte said Tuesday concerning the Onawa Road As for the Mountain Road which goes by the Borestone Wildlife Sanctuary Lizotte said all-terrain vehicles seemed like an incompatible use He noted the Piscataquis County Department also had concerns about the mixed use of the Onawa and Mountain roads think we bent over backwards the first time to allow Lizotte said referring to the use of Elliotsville Road He said Maine statutes allow for the crossing of county and state roads by AT Vs and snowmobiles but not for the use of a larger section of the roadway as a trail A simple crossing on the Mountain Road might be considered if an alternative off-road route is found he said Brian Bronson recreational safety and vehicle coordinator for the state Bureau of Parks and Iands told the commissioners Tuesday that the sale of the land also disrupted snowmobile traffic on the trail Bronson said there are two alternatives both of which involve many landowners and one of which also required installation of a $60000 bridge Outside the meeting Bronson explained that the trail could go north toward Greenville or south toward Monson and then over Big Wilson Stream Either option would require permission from several different landowners and the southerly trail also would have to include construction of an 80-foot bridge over the stream he said Regardless of which route is used Bronson said it will require much time and work BY DIANA BOWLEY OF THE NEWS STAFF DOVER-FOXCROFT A change of ownership of land located smack dab in the middle of the Bodfish All-Terrain Vehicle popular trail from Elliotsville to Greenville has left members scrambling to find an alternate route ATV enthusiasts had hoped Piscataquis County commissioners would allow the use of two county-owned roads to bridge the gap left by the sale of land to environmentalist Roxanne Quimby who has prohibited snowmobiles and all-terrain vehicles on her property The club actually had sought permission from the commis.