Welcome to Stetson...

Welcome to Stetson, Maine! A small town with just over 1,000 residents, Stetson has always taken pride in its strong rural character. Located 17 miles west of Bangor, people originally came to settle here because of the scenic beauty, excellent farmland after it was cleared, and an abundance of lumber. Natural resources including forestland, abundant wildlife, wetlands, water resources and unique natural areas contribute greatly to the quality of life. At six miles square, Stetson continues to provide open space and recreational activities such as fishing, snowmobiling, hunting, canoeing, horseback riding and cross-country skiing. Pleasant Lake, located entirely within the town's borders, is a scenic 798 acre lake known for its excellent fishing and clean water. A scattering of camps and homes around its seven miles of shoreline have not detracted from its beauty or character. A second source of community pride is our historic Stetson Meetinghouse. Located in the center village, this beautiful building continues to serve as a gathering place for town meetings, public functions and community dinners.

While Bangor is the economic/employment center of the area, Stetson has taken on the identity of a bedroom - type community. Although experiencing moderate population growth, the town continues to maintain a rural, relaxed, yet active community atmosphere. Town government has always had the good fortune to have strong and conscientious leadership. Stetson has a history of fiscal responsibility, a relatively stable tax rate and maintains a capacity for growth. While welcoming such growth, Stetson continues to encourage safeguards and goals for protecting its natural resources and quality of life features well into the future.

 

Hunting & Fishing
Licenses Online

Register
Atv/Snowmobile
Online

Upcoming Events and Reminders


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The Town of Stetson’s Fire Department is presently covered by the Town of Levant and Northern Light Rescue.

Danielle Withee is the ACO 207-745-1130

Selectmen’s Meetings:   2nd & 4th Wednesday of each month.  We thank the regulars who come to the Selectmen’s meetings and appreciate your questions and participation,

Tuesdays Trash Pickup

Trash must be out for pickup by 6:30am Tuesday mornings.

Upcoming Events

Proper procedure if finding a stray animal:

Please contact Danielle Withee, ACO instead of posting on Facebook. This ensures the pet/animal gets the proper care and/or attention needed, whether it be reunited with the owner or taken to the animal shelter. Thank you. 

Code Enforcement Officer will be in his office
Thursday from 5 pm -7 pm
Please walk past the Town Office and down the hallway to his
office . He will assist you with Building & Plumbing Permits.

Planning Board Meetings: 3rd Thursday of each month as required. Town Office Complex 7:00pm

The Corinth Transfer Station will no longer be accepting recycling from the residents of Stetson. They were willing
to take recyclables ONLY. Because residents abused this privilege and started taking things unable to be recycled such as household trash, our residents will no longer be able to take
recycling or anything else to the Corinth Transfer Station. Any questions, contact a member of the Board of Selectmen.

Town of Stetson is seeking:

PLANNING BOARD COMMITTEE MEMBERS
BOARD OF APPEALS COMMNITTEE MEMBERS
EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS COMMITTEE MEMBERS
PARKS & RECREATION COMMITTEE MEMBERS

If interested contact Stetson Town Office 296-3232

Assessing Agent
Danielle Davis
1st Wednesday of the month
8:00am to 3:30pm
296-3232

If you wish to request Vital Statistic Records at Town Office

( birth – death - marriage)

(please bring proof of ID and linage)

Stetson Town Office is located at: 394 Village Road
Stetson Town Office mailing address is: P.O. Box 85 Stetson, ME 04488
( misaddressed mail will be returned to sender by the post office )

If you need information about General Assistance or need to apply CLICK HERE.

Selectboard News

Hello, Stetson Residents! We hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season. We have a lot to cover in
this newsletter. Some are updates from the last newsletter and we will share some new information.

You may have noticed we have a new face in the Town Office. We would like to welcome Darla Merrithew. Darla comes from a prior Town office and hit the ground running on the Tuesday before the
November tax payments were due. She handled it well. We are sad to say goodbye to Kelli Dodge. She
did a wonderful job. Thank you, Kelli!

A friendly reminder that if you own a dog, that dog will need to be licensed. The deadline to avoid late
fees is January 31. If you have any questions regarding licensing, please contact the Town Office.

Another bit of information has to do with the vacant Road Commissioner position. Through emails with
the legal team at Maine Municipal Association, we learned that this position would have to be filled by
appointment until the next election. The Board appointed William Barriault to this position. He is a prior elected Road Commissioner and has knowledge in what is involved in the roadwork, what our winter roads are like, and what spring season involves. We will clarify here and now that William did not
approach the Board for this. The Board approached him and he graciously agreed to fulfill the duties until the next election. At this time, we will publicly thank him for taking this on. We know it is a lot of
work.

We are sending out a friendly reminder to go with the winter snow: plowing snow into the road is
illegal. We ask you to give the plow crews room to maneuver and give yourselves extra time to get to
work, school or appointments.

Now to clarify some information. Some residents have personally asked Board members about the
plowing contract. This was not an issue with Joe Gray doing the plowing and sanding in prior years. As
many of you are aware, plowing and sanding goes out to bid just like the trash pickup and the municipal, cemetery and roadside mowing bids do. The two bids that came in were $238,000 and $188,750. Patriots Landscaping was awarded the bid at a savings of$49,250. This information then leads to the comment,
“So my taxes will go down this year.” No, you won’t see it this year. Why? Unfortunately, the practice
has been to give a best-guess as to how much plowing and sanding will cost. We have budget meetings
in the spring and the bids for plowing and sanding go out late summer/early fall. This year the Town
budgeted $310,000 for Snow/Ice Control. This includes the plowing contract, sand and salt. This money
is appropriated and cannot be utilized anywhere else this year. Any overage will go into the
Undesignated Fund at the end of the year. The Undesignated Fund has been utilized for road
maintenance, cemeteries, and other accounts. So the money is used and the Undesignated Fund does not
miraculously just fund itself, although it would be nice if it did. Will you see a decrease in your taxes
due to this savings next year? To be perfectly honest, we would like to think so and certainly hope that it
does. We don’t like raising taxes any more than you like having your taxes raised. We pay taxes, too. However, a lot depends on the ever-rising costs of heating oil, electricity and everything else that has to
be paid for by the Town. We will know more during the spring budget meetings.

We are pleased to announce that TDS has formally accepted the BEAD funding. What does this mean for residents? TDS will be moving forward with Stetson and other communities they serve with some
sort of broadband connections. It is still too early to answer the question, “When will it be at my house?”
The positive is that it now should happen sooner rather than later.

Regarding LS Power and everyone’s concerns about that. We had a really good turnout from residents at
a Selectmen’s meeting regarding this concern. Because of this turnout, and the discussions that were
involved, a committee was formed. They did a significant amount of research and brought their ideas
and suggestions to the Board. The LS Power Committee has also agreed to look into the Land Use Ordinance after the LS Power situation has been addressed. They are working hard and we would like to
thank them for this project they have taken on.

Danielle Davis applied for a Penobscot County ARPA funds grant. By applying for this, the Town was
awarded $25,000 to go towards a new boiler system at the Town Office. We have been discussing oil vs
propane and have estimates from 3 different companies. Unfortunately, the decision will be made after the deadline for this newsletter. An update will be provided in the April-June 2024 newsletter. Or you
can always be a first-to-know, attend a meeting and hear it yourself, live and in-person.

Some of you may remember the old Town dump in Levant. This was before curbside trash pickup where
residents had to collect their trash, load it into their vehicle, and transport it to an actual dump. That
dump has not been used in years. We had a visit from the State at a Selectmen’s meeting. We were informed that the dump needed to have trees cut down and had to be bushhogged. We were also
informed this site is actually supposed to be maintained on a regular basis. Unfortunately, we were not
aware and the State failed to follow through on letting even prior Boards know this work had to be done.
To save money, rather than hire the work out, Millard Butler addressed the issue by cutting the trees and
doing the bushhogging that was necessary. Revision Energy was invited to attend a Selectmen’s Meeting and did so via ZOOM. There is discussion on implementing a solar field on the old Town dump. The land cannot be used because it is an old dump, the Town pays taxes to Levant on this property, and a solar field would bring revenue to the Town. We are only in the beginning stages of this
discussion. Further information will be provided in the next newsletter on where we are going with this.

Continuing with Town history that some of you may or may not remember. In December of 1992, Julian
Orr (a prior Board member) and his wife, Jean, gifted a parcel of land on the Wolfboro Road to be
designated as a Town Park. There is a sign along the road marking this Town Park. This parcel of land
provides no revenue to the Town. The deed has several stipulations on what can and, more so, what
CAN’T be done. For example, and taken directly from the deed itself (Penobscot County Registry of Deeds Book 5238 Pages 338-340), it is to remain forever wild with no cutting of trees or clearing of
vegetation, limited pruning and removing offallen trees, no roadways, no graveled or surfaced
footpaths, no structures, no hunting or trapping, and no motorized vehicles. It is to be enjoyed in its natural beauty. Added to this, the Town is unable to return it to the Orr descendants or be allowed to sell
it. The only option the Town has is to transfer ownership “to the Nature Conservancy, or its successor,
or to any other appropriate organization that will accept and comply with the above conditions.” Our
questions to you residents are what should we do with this parcel of land, are you aware of this Town
Park and how many of you utilize, or know people who utilize, this Town Park? Please reach out to the
Town Office, a Board Member or attend a Selectmen’s meeting and give your opinion and thoughts on what you would like us to do.

Finally, nomination papers for Selectman, School Board, and Road Commissioner will be available on February 29, 2024 at the Town Office. These positions aren’t just showing up at a meeting or checking a road to see if it needs work or a new culvert. It is more than just spending taxpayers’ money; it is how to do it efficiently and try to save you on taxes. Speak with a current or prior Selectman, School Board
member or Road Commissioner. Find out what is involved. If you have any interest in any of these, take
out papers, get your 25 or more signatures, return them by the deadline and be put on the ballot.
You ALL are welcome to attend Selectmen’s meetings. If you do not want to attend in person, we have
a ZOOM option. Until spring mud season, have a safe and wonderful winter.

Respectfully submitted, The Board of Selectmen

       NOTICE
New Hours for Window Service at the Stetson Post Office
Facility Retail Hours
Monday – Friday
8:00am to 12:00pm  

Saturday - 7:30am to 11:00am

STETSON WEATHER