Dover-Foxcroft cemetery renamed to recognize family’s land donation
DOVER-FOXCROFT — The East Dover Cemetery will now be known at the Dow Cemetery of East Dover, as the name change was formally approved by the Dover-Foxcroft Select Board during a Monday night meeting.
“We have had public hearings on this and quite a bit of discussion,” Select Chair Steve Grammont said.
Over the summer Judy Dow approached the town about the possibility of renaming the cemetery on the East Dover Road to recognize the family for its gift of land made in the 19th century.
A check of records indicated there was no clear evidence to support the formal name of the cemetery, including at the Piscataquis Registry of Deeds. When the donation was made Dover and Foxcroft were separate communities.
The cemetery is open to all, not just Dow family members.
In other business, Town Manager Alsina Breenstuhl gave an update on the Lincoln Street bridge project.
In the 2024 fiscal year $1.3 million in Congressionally Directed Spending was awarded for the replacement project near the intersection with North Street.
“It’s a culvert but it’s a bridge because of the span,” she said.
The street is not in immediate danger of caving in, but this will happen eventually if steps are not taken. The bridge — built in 1960 — spans just under 17 feet and is made up of reinforced concrete slab on stone abutments. It features two-way travel lanes, angled parking on the south side, parallel parking on the north side and partial sidewalks on both sides of the street with businesses located on each side.
Those coming onto the western end of Lincoln Street from North Street via vehicle or on foot may not realize the road includes a bridge going over a small brook emptying into the nearby Piscataquis River. In June 2024 the select board approved a preliminary design for rehabilitation from Wright Pierce Engineers.
The project estimate is around $3 million, so more than $1.5 million is needed to cover more than half of the costs. The $1.3 million needs to be used by September 2027 or else it will disappear, so the project needs to be underway by then.
“The short answer is there is no money in the jar for this purpose,” Grammond said.
Financing is a possibility, potentially through the Maine Maine Municipal Bond Bank and maybe with an interim financing package through a commercial bank in place before the bond bank. This would be voted on via a referendum vote.
Town officials are unsure what would happen if the question is voted down, possibly with the town needing to cover the entire costs without the $1.3 million.
Shortly before the anticipated closure of the Essex Street bridge, tree trimming was taking place. Maine Department of Transportation workers should be on site leading up to the anticipated closure on March 23, Brenenstuhl said.
After this date detours will be in place for the Piscataquis River overspan as it is replaced. The anticipated project completion date is in 2028.
The previous Saturday, March 7, the budget advisory committee had a day-long meeting from 9 a.m. to about 3:30 p.m. The group met for one day instead of having four 2-hour meetings on different nights.
“I think it was very successful, folks were able to ask a lot of questions,” Brenenstuhl said. She said did not feel rushed and the consensus among committee members was that they were happy with the day.
In previous years the budget advisory committee had four meetings across multiple weeks in March. Brenenstuhl had said some time was unnecessarily spent on roll call, voting on meeting minutes and recapping discussions from prior weeks and some committee members needed to arrive a bit later after getting out of work.
The committee and select board are scheduled to have a joint meeting on Monday, March 16. Later in the month there will be a public hearing on the proposed 2026-27 budget.
The spending plan will be brought to the annual town meeting at 9 a.m. on Saturday, April 25. The total approved that day is then moved to a referendum vote on the second Tuesday of June.